Change
by CeeCee828
Summary: They say she had a choice, but was there really any decision to be made? A chance to change it all before it happens-That's exactly what Nicole Potter is given. Better summary inside. Marauder era, time travel. COMPLETED!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, universe, none of it belongs to me. Except Nicole Potter. She's mine.**

**A/N: This is my first Fan-Fiction and I'm real excited to post it!**

**Summary: The Second Wizarding War is evolving around my older brother and the Darkest Wizard since Grindelwald. After I am kidnapped by Voldemort himself to use as bait for my brother, Harry, I'm murdered. But I don't die - Not really. Instead, I am sent back to 1977 to change it. To change everything. To keep it _all_ from happening. I'm given the chance to meet my parents - James and Lily Potter - for the first time, see and get to know the Marauders as teenagers, and fall in love - all because of the Dark Lord himself.  
**

Prologue

I knew it was the end.

The glint in those scarlet eyes that I had become accustomed to seeing everyday was brighter than ever. If possible, _he_ looked even crazier than he usually did, and that was saying something.

Pain tore through every limb of my body, pulsing through my veins to my heart, where it nestled, burning inside of me. White-hot blades were being pressed against my skin and, somehow, my insides.

At least, that's what it felt like. White dots popped up in my reign of vision, blocking out the wand pointed at my face. All I could hear were screams of pain. A girl's screams. A girl of almost sixteen years' screams.

_My_ screams.

But the only thing I could think of was Harry. How was he to survive losing another person he loved, his only real family member left? He was destined to finish off this person, this _thing_, in front of me, and I didn't know if he could do it without a support system. Sure, there was Ron and Hermione, but they weren't his real family. I could only hope he would find a way to pull through all of this.

There was a flash of green light, and just like that, it was over.

Just like Sirius.

Just like Dumbledore.

Just like Mad-Eye.

Just like my parents.

**A/N: If you don't know what is going on, don't worry! It will all be explained in the next few chapters. Sorry that it'sso short, but I plan on updating again soon. Review please, constructive criticism is possibly the best thing you could give me as an aspiring writer!**


	2. Death

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., exc., not me, no matter how many times I wish it upon a shooting star or at 11:11.**

**A/N: I know that this all takes place in Britain, but since I'm from the US, everything will have American spellings but I will try to throw some English terms in there some places.  
**

Chapter 1

I felt like I was floating, and everywhere I looked I saw white.

Was this death? If so, it wasn't that bad. In fact, I'd much rather be here than back with Voldemort.

I try to stand up, but my body - or soul, whatever I am - refuses to. I guess my soul was still inside the body I left behind. If so, it doesn't surprise me that I couldn't move. I had been under the Cruciatus Curse for Merlin knows how long, and if he hadn't ended it, it would shock me if I'd ever been able to move again.

I notice shapes in the distance. I open my mouth to yell at them, but I can't. Then suddenly, six people appear; one on either side of me and four in front of me. I recognize them instantly, even if I had only met three; my mom and dad, and Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, and Regulus Black. They are all sitting cross-legged, and I realize I am as well. Mom and Dad look exactly as they did in images I've seen of them a few days before they were murdered, not much older than Harry. Sirius looks younger, even younger than my parents, and Regulus looks almost exactly like, even the same age. Dumbledore looks exactly as he did before he died, except his hand was no longer blacked, and Mad-Eye no longer had a chunk out of his nose missing and had both of his normal eyes and legs.

Mom and Dad each grab a hold of one of my hands and intertwine their fingers with mine. They feel more real than anyone I can ever remember, and I feel more protected just being there with them than I ever have in my life.

Dad reaches out and strokes my hair gently with his free hand.

"Hey, baby," he says softly, pulling me into a one-armed hug lightly. My body is stiff, but I realize I am not sore at all. After a moment Dad lets me go, but not before I feel him kiss the top of my head gently. "We are so proud of you. You've been so brave." I want to ask what's going on, but I can't find my voice.

"You okay, darling?" Mom asks me, smiling sweetly at me. I nod slowly, but thinking about the torture I was put through causes me to wince. She frowns, and I can tell from her eyes as well as Dad's that my pain hurts them worse than I would've thought, and it hurts the others as well; even Regulus and I've never even met him. I wonder why he was there with the others anyway.

"Am I dead?" I ask after a moment. They all smile, and Dad and Sirius laughs.

"Always the first reaction," Dad says. I look up at him. He's got to be a head taller than me, and I notice my own hazel eyes staring out from behind his familiar glasses. "And no, you are not." I frown.

"I'm not? But I was hit with the Killing Curse. You can only survive that if -"

"Somebody dies to save you, yes." Dumbledore interrupted, nodding. "As James said, we are sure you are not dead." I furrow my eyebrows, confused.

"How?" They all paused as if thinking, and then Dumbledore answered slowly.

"Lily didn't die just to save Harry. It may seem like it, since you're always overshadowed by him, but she died to save you as well. Voldemort would have killed you as well if he knew about you. That's why she pleaded for him to take her instead of Harry, and not both of you. Very smart move, on her part." Mom smiled at him, and he smiled fondly back at her. "Harry used up the protection when he was a baby. _You _didn't, though."

"I get to go back?" I ask slowly.

"If my assumptions are correct." I hesitated before replying.

"Did the curse backfire and hit Voldemort?" Dad shook his head.

"Not this time. It hit you. But it didn't kill you." I stare at my lap.

"What if I don't want to go back? What if I'd rather be here?"

Regulus spoke up for the first time, "But you won't go back to the time you came from." I blink before looking up at him.

"What?" was all I could say.

"Somehow, we don't know if Voldemort said the curse wrong or if half of it rebounded and the half that hit you did it or what happened, but your body, and, soon, your soul, got sent back to 1977." I stare at him, still confused.

"You have a chance to change everything, if you want," Sirius explains. "If not, you can stay and move on with us. If you want to go back, you will first be able to stay here and watch happens to Harry from the point of your death to either his or Voldemort's. It's your choice." I swallow.

They say it's my choice, but is there really a choice? I can't turn this down.

"Only go if you want to," Sirius added, noticing my hesitation.

Do I want to go back?

Yes, I realize, I do. But I don't want to go back when Voldemort is around. I want to go back to when Voldemort is dead, if he ever dies, and to be with my whole family.

I notice my hands are shaking and that everybody is staring at me expectantly.

I hate change, but a chance to change the future would be nice. How could I turn this down?

I nod, staring at my lap.

"I'll go back." I pause. "But I don't know if I understand what's going to happen."

"Well as soon as either Harry or Voldemort die, you will be sent back exactly 20 years," Sirius explains. "You'll be in the exact place you were when you 'died,' Malfoy Manor, which is rather unfortunate."

"You won't age at all, and the minute Voldemort is killed, if Voldemort is killed, you will wake up the exact date you died in the new world," Dad explained, running his hand through my hair again. "You will have all of the memories of this life, your experiences in the past, and your 'new' life." He paused. "And if you're killed, you have nothing to worry about."

"This world will keep on going," Dumbledore added. "But that one will, too. It's like parallel universes." He paused, and then chuckled lightly. "It _is_ parallel universes." I didn't see how that was funny, but I nodded.

"I get it…I think." I notice the blurry shapes in the background getting closer, and the next thing I know I'm sitting in the middle of a home that I recognize.

It was Grimmauld Place. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having a conversation that was confusing me.

"What are they doing?" I ask the others, confused.

"They're trying to figure out where the locket went," Sirius answered, pulling out pieces of grass from the patch that I finally noticed we were sitting on in the middle of the room. The Trio obviously couldn't see it, so I assumed it wasn't there to them. "Oh, and R.A.B. is Regulus." I nod; I had had my suspicions. Not that I'm bragging and saying I knew it, but I had thought there was a chance, since his initials were R.B. but I hadn't known his middle name.

So we sit and watch as Remus comes to ask to join them and tells them Tonks is pregnant. They tell him to go back to Tonks (which Dad and Sirius had completely backed them on) and then plan a break in to the Ministry before following it through. I notice that wherever Harry was, we went as well. I guessed we only followed him.

A few days after the break in they overhear a conversation and then Harry and Hermione were excited, and Ron was sulking in the corner.

And so we watch as Ron storms out, leaving Harry and Hermione behind. I picked a few insults that I yelled at him that went unheard. Several of them caused Mom to say, "Nicole!" and Dad and Sirius to laugh and high-five me.

The seven of us watched Harry and Hermione visit Godric's Hollow, at which point Mom and Dad each moved closer to me and gripped my hands harder. Mom looked about ready to cry, and Sirius - who was on her other side - put a comforting hand on her shoulder, which calmed her. We watched as Harry followed the doe and as Ron saved his life. I was shocked to find out that he didn't know about my death yet; I figured Voldemort would've planted the memory in his mind to drive him nuts like he had forced me to watch him kill Mom and Dad over and over to drive me crazy, when all it did was piss me off at him. Ron had to tell him that I was killed, and it was almost unbearable for me to watch him get that upset. I had to bury my head in Dad's chest to keep myself from screaming at him that I was okay and was happier than I had ever been in my life here.

I wasn't shocked when, a few days later, Voldemort made him watch the memory. Mom pulled me into a hug when we had to watch me being tortured and killed since Harry had to, and I thought I felt tears falling onto the top of my head.

We watched as they were captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. It was Dad's turn to pull me into a hug when we had to hear Hermione being tortured. After Dobby took Luna, Dean, and Ollivander away and Wormtail came in and started choking himself, Sirius and James flinched.

"He may have betrayed us," James whispered into my ear when Ron and Harry tried to pry his hands back. "But he was still our friend for a long time." As soon as he finished, there was a small _pop!_ And Wormtail appeared between Regulus and Sirius, and everything around us disappeared and we were in the black like we were when I first appeared. He looked much younger, and he had his real hand back. Sirius growled at him.

"Peter," he said shortly before scooting closer to Mom. I knew he was refraining from standing up and moving away from him to sit between Regulus and Mad-Eye, but didn't want to leave him next to Mom.

"Am I dead?" Wormtail asked. This time, nobody smiled, not even Dumbledore, who replied,

"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew, you are." He paused. "And I hate to say this, but you really aren't welcome here. If it was our choice, we'd send you on, but it isn't. So you better just not say anything the whole time you're here." I had never heard Dumbledore sound so upset. He must have really been fond of Mom and Dad to be this upset over the person who had betrayed them.

Wormtail closed his mouth and looked into his lap as we were back on the patch of grass in the middle of the same room that was the place I had been killed. We watched as Ron and Hermione escaped and then Harry and Dobby did as well.

As soon as Dobby was dead, there was another _pop!_ And we were, once again, back in black.

"Hello Dobby," I said pleasantly. He glanced around almost nervously, and said to me,

"Hello Miss Potter. Dobby had thought he'd never see you again. Dobby was very sad to hear the news…Dobby guesses that he is, too?" I nod.

"Sit down, Dobby; we get to watch what's happening." I was surprised he didn't burst into tears at being asked to sit and instead sat down between Wormtail and Sirius.

We watched as Harry buried Dobby's body (at which point Dobby did burst into tears), and then as Remus said Tonks had had the baby, a boy, and Harry was Godfather. James and Sirius smiled proudly. We continued watching as, later, they robbed Gringotts and were quite surprised when they got away.

I knew the end was coming when they headed to Hogwarts. Something about the castle told me it was going to end soon.

We watched as everyone arrived and prepared for battle, and then as Harry saved Malfoy. Crabbe joined us when he was killed, and we went through the same process as we had before. He kept shooting me looks of loathing, so I returned his looks in kind.

The next person to join us was Fred Weasley. This bothered me immensely. Oh how George must be hurting. Fred was my first boyfriend when I was in my third year, even though he was nearly three and a half years older than me, and even my first kiss - in the end we had decided to just stay friends.

He glanced around at us all, his eyes resting on me, Sirius, and Dumbledore longer than the rest.

"I'm dead aren't I?" he asked, his eyes on me sitting in my father's arms and holding hands with my mother. I nod slowly, and he raises his eyebrows.

"Oh well. At least I now get to be with three of the Marauders." He glared at Wormtail as he said that, and then sat between Regulus and Mad-Eye. "Hello Mad-Eye…well, I guess you don't have your eye anymore. Nice to see you again, Moody." He didn't seem in the mood to joke. I -Eye nodded, and everything returned again.

I knew Fred cried when he saw Percy shaking him and crying, but nobody said anything to him. Not even Crabbe. Everybody knew to just leave him be.

Remus, Tonks, and Colin Creevey all joined us at roughly the same time. Only Remus looked younger; the other two all looked the same as when they had died. They all knew instantly that they were dead, and Remus held Tonks as she tried not to cry. Colin didn't look sat at all; in fact, he looked rather proud that he had died defending Harry. They all joined the circle and Fred said,

"Wow, now I'm with _all_ of the Marauders! I bet George would be envious!" just before everything came back.

We watched as Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched Voldemort kill Snape, and then he too appeared. His eyes landed on Lily first, and she turned away from him. She seemed to think that he was on the Death Eaters side. Everyone did, actually, except Dumbledore, and I'm ashamed to say I thought him a traitor as well.

"Sit down Severus. I'm sure you know what's going on." Snape nodded and sat down between Dumbledore and Mad-Eye. "Just so you all know, as it seemed we will find out soon, Snape was really on our side all along." Nobody said anything as Snape's eyes traveled to Fred.

"I'm sorry, Fred, about George's ear. I was trying to curse the Death Eater that was trying to kill Lupin and I missed…" he trailed off. Fred frowned.

"I'm George, you dolt! Can't even tell us apart when we're _dead_!" Snape looked up quickly, shocked, and everybody laughed, even if it was only slightly. "Only joking, I am Fred."

Everything returned, and we watched Snape's memories with Harry. Mom turned away from Dad when we had to watch Snape's Worst Memory, and we were only slightly upset with Dumbledore for keeping the fact that Harry was a Horcrux from him.

Finally, we watched as Harry turned the stone over in his hands and I felt the familiar pull behind my navel and next thing I knew, I'm standing between Mom and Dad, staring at Harry with Remus and Sirius on his other side. Harry observed all of us, and I smiled at him and met his gaze when he turned to me. He didn't seem to be able to find his voice.

"You've been so brave," Mom said finally when his eyes met hers.

"You are nearly there," Dad said. "Very close. We are…so proud of you."

"Does it hurt?" he asked suddenly. I couldn't help but laugh, and he gave me a dirty look.

"Dying? Not at all," Sirius answered. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep."

"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over," Remus said. "You'll go through it painless like…" he glanced toward me. "…most of us." Harry turned to me as well, and his eyes searched mine. I knew he would find no pain there, for I felt none, but he seemed to want to be sure.

"I didn't want you to die," he said, glancing mostly at Remus and I. "Any of you. I'm sorry -" He turned to me. "- You were only fifteen." He turned to Remus. "Right after you'd had your son…Nicole, Remus, I'm sorry -"

"I am sorry too," Remus said. "Sorry I will never know him…but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."

"You'll stay with me?" Harry asked.

"Until the very end," Dad said.

"They won't be able to see you?"

"We are part of you," Sirius said.

"Invisible to anyone else," I added. How I knew that, I don't know. Harry turned to me, and then to Mom.

"Stay close to me." I felt Mom's hand slink its way into mine again as she stepped closer to Harry.

We walked in silence, and watched in silence as Harry dropped the Resurrection Stone and we were all very suddenly back in the circle in the grass that we had been in.

The group was silent as Voldemort shot a familiar curse at Harry, and we were all shocked that instead of Harry joining us, Dumbledore disappeared. Nobody knew what was going on, so we watched quietly as Dumbledore explained some things to Harry in a white place that he thought looked like King's Cross.

And then Dumbledore was with us again, and we watched as Narcissa saved Harry's life.

"I always knew there was some good in her," Sirius said. Dad snorted, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I doubt that you knew that." Sirius frowned at him but continued to watch.

Mom and I almost cried when Voldemort put the burning Sorting Hat on Neville and were shocked and glad when he pulled Gryffindor's sword out of it and killed Nigini (everyone was glad when Nigini didn't join us-that could have been a disaster).

"_NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"_

Everybody was shocked to hear these words from Mrs. Weasley's mouth, and Fred said happily,

"Go Mom!"

When Bellatrix joined us, she didn't ask any questions. Instead, she stood to the side and laughed.

"Look at that, a whole family renewed. All we need now is the boy, who will be joining us soon!" She was looking toward Mom, Dad, and I, and nobody said anything to her, but I could tell Mom was fuming.

"Dear Bella, cousin," Sirius said finally. "I think you already learned not to upset mothers. Or does Lily here need to teach you that lesson again?" Bellatrix stared at him before sitting beside Wormtail and Crabbe.

And then we watched, most of us in glee, as Harry defeated Voldemort, and then everything was black once more.

"Nicole," Dumbledore said lightly. "This is where we part." I smiled slightly as we all stood up.

I went around the circle, hugging Fred, Dumbledore, Tonks, Remus, and Sirius and shaking hands with Mad-Eye, Regulus, Snape, Colin, Dobby, and even Wormtail before I was enveloped into a very tight hug by Mom and Dad. I shot Bellatrix and Crabbe looks of detest before I suddenly felt the same jerk behind my navel you feel when you're using a portkey, and I was slammed back down to solid ground again.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please please PLEASE review, reviews make my day!**


	3. Regulus

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, it all belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., exc. Except Nicole, who is my OC. R/R!**

Chapter 2

I didn't move. I didn't know if I could. Even if I could, I wouldn't have. I was sore, and it would've hurt like hell to even open my eyes. They had forgotten to mention I would be in the exact same body I had left.

So I laid there, wondering if I would ever be found. My head ached if I thought too much, but I needed to come up with a cover story for why I was there.

I could always say I didn't know. I was hit by a spell in a duel and ended up here. Yeah, I guessed that would work.

I heard a door creak open and a creak of a floorboard. I didn't say anything or move an inch, and nor did the person - or thing - who had just entered. Then I heard slow and heavy footsteps walking my way.

The footfalls stopped within a foot of me and I decided it would be best to open my eyes. I did so, slowly, for it caused my whole body to ache just by the small movement.

Standing before me was a familiar face.

It took me a minute before I remembered I was in 1977 and it could not have been Sirius standing above me with his wand pointed directly at my heart. He had already run away a year ago and there was no way he would be in Malfoy Manor. It had to be Regulus.

"Who are you?" he asked, keeping his eyes on my face that I was sure was bloodied and bruised. He didn't even need to point his wand at me; it should've been obvious, even to him, that I was in no fit state to duel him.

"N-Nicole," I said slowly. My voice was hoarse and my throat ached. "Nicole S-Sawyer." I thought it best not to say I was Nicole Potter when I wasn't yet born in this time.

"How did you get here?" he asked coldly. I took several deep, aching breaths before answering.

"I-I d-don't know. I c-c-can't re-remem-remember," I stuttered, unable to keep my voice steady. Regulus stares at me for a moment before turning and walking swiftly back out the door he had come in. I stared, confused, at the place he had just vacated, before I heard him on his way back, this time accompanied by two other people. Soon they were standing above me, and I recognized a younger Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Lucius stareed at me coldly and Narcissa looked sympathetic. I guessed I look pitiful - no, I _know_ I looked pitiful.

"Who are you?" Lucius asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but Regulus beat me to it.

"She said her name is Nicole Sawyer but she doesn't remember how she got here." Nobody said anything for a moment. Finally, Lucius said,

"Narcissa, take care of her. Nurse her back to full health, even if it takes weeks. We can question her then." Lucius turned and left, followed by Regulus, who took one last look in my direction before disappearing behind the door. He almost looked concerned, even though he didn't know me.

When the two were gone, Narcissa bent down next to me.

"Hello…Nicole, is it?" I nodded very slowly. She smiled gently, even though her face was still very cold looking. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" I shook my head.

"Sorry, I can't. I-I think I might have been obliviated," I lied. I don't know where that story had come from, I just made it up quickly on the spot. The stuttering had slowed down, and I think she was using wordless magic because I was not as sore and my body was becoming numb. She nodded.

"How old are you Nicole?" she asked.

"Fifteen." My left, broken wrist snaped back into place. It stung, and I let out a soft whimper. Narcissa smiled sympathetically at me.

"Sorry, dear," she said. "My cousin, Regulus, the dark haired one, he's sixteen."

Of course, she didn't know this, but I knew that already, so I nodded.

"W-Was the other one your husband?" She nodded. "Do you have any kids?" I already knew the answer to this too, but it helped my act to pretend I didn't.

"Not yet." I suddenly felt like I could move again, and I tried to sit up, but she put a gentle hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down. "Don't move yet." A few more minutes later, and I couldn't help but say,

"Your husband, he's a Malfoy, right? And you must be a Black, since you said Regulus was your cousin and he's clearly a Black." She looked at me curiously, and nodded.

"How did you know that?"

"Blacks, Malfoys, they aren't hard to pick out of a crowd. Just like Potters and Weasleys - they aren't either. It's just the way they look and act."

"Are you a pureblood?" I paused. _Uh oh…they don't know the name Sawyer…_

"I don't know - I'm pretty sure that at least one of my parents was a wizard or witch. They died when I was a baby; I was put in a Muggle orphanage and adopted by a Muggle family." Good thing I'm good at coming up with lies on the spot.

Narcissa didn't even look at me, and I knew that I should have found a way to say I was a pureblood. Maybe say my parents were blood-traitors so I changed my last name or something. If she was going to nurse me back to health, I needed her trust and I needed to trust her. I knew she had saved Harry's life in my past life, but that was so she could save her son as well. "What's the date?" I asked. I hadn't known the date I was killed, so I had to ask.

"August 9th." So I had been killed on August 9th…I'd have to remember to be careful on that day in the future. I probably had bad luck on that day anymore. I didn't say anything as she helped me up and lead me down some fancy hallways. Finally, she opened some double-doors and helped me inside.

Inside was an extremely fancy bedroom decked in Slytherin colors, which, surprisingly, didn't bother me at all. The walls were silver with emerald green trimming. There was a large window opposite the door with green curtains, and two green chairs with silver pillows on them and a wooden table between them sat in front of it. The huge four-poster bed was against the right wall. The curtains and pillows were green while the bed sheets were silver and a silky material. A wooden table was on either side of it. A green couch was against the left wall. Above it there were three long bookshelves, lined with books, and a table in front of it. There was a door on either side of it; one lead to the closet and the other to a large bathroom. Against the wall that the door to the hallway was on, there was a large desk and comfy, green chair to the left and bookshelves covering the wall to the right.

Narcissa lead me to the bed and helped me pull my robes off so I was in a white blouse and grey skirt. I climbed in and she said,

"Dobby." There was a _pop_ and a familiar house-elf appeared in front of me. "Dobby, this is our guest Miss Sawyer. You are to bring her meals in bed until I tell you otherwise, help her find her way around the Manor, help her do anything she may need help with until she is fully healed, and get her some more clothes."

"Yes Miss Narcissa." Narcissa nodded to me and left, leaving me alone with Dobby, who turned to me. "Is Miss Sawyer hungry?" I shook my head. "Does Miss Sawyer need anything?" I shook my head again, and he nodded to me. "If Miss Sawyer needs anything, just call Dobby and Dobby will get you what you need." I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak, and, with another _pop_, Dobby was gone.

I tried to sleep but was unable to. I checked the time and it was nearly noon, so I found a book off of the shelves about the Dark Arts and started to read.

* * *

The next two days I stayed in the room. Narcissa visited me regularly and said I would be up to leaving the house soon. At half-past four on the sixteenth, there was a knock on my door. I opened it cautiously, still not sure I trusted the Malfoys, but it wasn't either of them.

It was Regulus. He smileed slightly at me and asked if he could come in. I let him in and he sat down on one of the chairs by the window. I sat in the other one and we were silent for a while.

"Do you really not remember how you got here?" Shocked, I said,

"Of course. Why would I say I couldn't remember if I could?" He shrugged and replied slowly,

"I don't know. Maybe you don't trust us, or don't think we will trust you if we know, or you don't think we will believe you, or -"

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought," I said lightly. He turned to glare at me, and I met his gaze. Since Voldemort captured me, I've been able to meet any gaze. Even his and Bellatrix's.

"It's just…everybody knows that Malfoy's and Black's are on _his_ side, and Narcissa said you knew who we were, and if you were on the other side, then, well, I can see why you wouldn't tell us," he said, his cheeks slightly pink. I hadn't known how different he and Sirius were until then. They may look alike, but other than that they were completely different.

"I don't have a side yet," I replied. "I'm neutral, as of now. It doesn't make a difference to me. I don't plan to fight for either side, and, honestly, I don't trust either side.…I don't know what to think anymore; I really don't trust anybody." I knew he knew what I was talking about; from what I knew of him, he was that exact way before he died.

Regulus sat silently, staring at his feet, before saying,

"I'm thinking of joining him." I turned to him, stunned he had told me this.

"The Dark Lord?" He nodded, still staring at his feet. "Not to be rude, by why are you telling me this? You don't even know me or if I can be trusted." He glanced up at me.

"Are you telling me I can't trust you?"

"What - No! I'm just saying, in times like these you have to be careful with what you tell strangers."

"I guess it's just easier to tell strangers. And you seem pretty trustworthy to me. Narcissa likes you, and it's pretty hard to gain her acceptance." _Narcissa likes me? Well, if she knew who I was she wouldn't_.

"Well, I mean, it makes much more sense to tell somebody you trust that. Like your best friend, or siblings, or cousins, or something."

"I don't really have a best friend and all of my cousins are on his side. I need somebody neutral."

"Do you have any siblings?" He looked back at his feet as he answered.

"There's Sirius, my older brother."

"Why don't you talk to him?" He hesitated before answering.

"He - er, he's on the Light side. He, erm, ran away last year and doesn't talk to me or my parents anymore." I frowned. It sounded like it was hard on Regulus, loosing his brother, even though they didn't really get along. There must be something here I didn't understand. "You're the only neutral person I know." I paused.

"Promise me you won't tell anybody this." He glanced up at me and nodded. "Well, I think you should at least wait until you are at least of age." He seemed shocked and leaned forward slightly. "I think I've always been leaning toward the Light side. They aren't prejudice against Muggleborns, and I have no proof that I'm not one. I grew up as a Muggle and the Dark side is against Muggles." I paused, thinking.

"As for joining the Dark Lord…you can't just join him and then decide you don't like it. You have to be one hundred percent sure you want to. You can't hand in a resignation form to him. It's a lifetime of service, or death," I said, quoting Sirius in my past life. "I've seen first-hand what they do to people just because they are Muggles or Muggleborns, or even just because they can. Even several of the Death Eaters have trouble stomaching it, and they signed up for it themselves." Regulus looked at me, shocked that I knew this.

"And with how you don't speak to your brother…I'd try to fix that. I wasn't on speaking terms with my older brother when…when he was killed." In my mind, that wasn't a lie either. I _wasn't_ on speaking terms with Harry when he "died," just not in the way that Regulus would take it.

Suddenly, tears stung my eyes and I looked down and away from Regulus. Why was I crying? Harry wasn't even _born_ in this lifetime. Maybe I was finally becoming homesick and it was finally hitting me I might not see Harry for another several years…if I would ever see him again.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt gentle hands pushing me lightly to the side and a slim body squeezing into the chair beside me. An arm went around my shoulders as I impulsively curled up into Regulus' side and started to sob into his chest. He didn't say anything, but buried his face in my hair; I think I felt a few tears hit my scalp but I could have been imagining it.

After what feels like hours, I finally stop crying. Neither Regulus nor myself moved until I felt his free hand pushing my chin up to face him. My vision was still blurry, though there are no tears in my eyes. Slowly, very slowly, Regulus gently set his lips on mine…

**A/N: OK, so I'm not the best at writing romance. Sorry!**

**And sorry that it's kind of short. I wanted to continue but I didn't know if I could find another place to end it for a while.**

**Review! Please and thank you!**


	4. Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR except anything you don't recognize.**

Chapter 3

If you had told me in my past life that I would kiss Regulus Black while staying as a guest in Malfoy Manor, I would've laughed, shook my head, and walked away.

Yet, there I was, with my lips against my brother's Godfather's brother's lips.

I didn't stop it - I didn't know if I was able too - but I didn't deepen the kiss, either. Regulus seemed just as stunned as me. We had barely had a complete conversation and yet he had kissed me - or had I kissed him?

Finally, Regulus pulled back. I noticed his cheeks turning pink rapidly, and I felt my neck and cheeks getting hotter by the second. We both looked away from the other, but neither of us moved from our position in the chair.

My bangs fell in front of my eyes and Regulus reached over and brushed them out of my face. I looked up at him and he smiled slightly at me. Still neither of us talked; we didn't know what to say. What do you say after possibly the most awkward kiss ever?

Finally, I just rested my head on Regulus' chest and I felt his chin on the top of my head. I sighed, content, and closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew, I woke up under the covers in the four-poster. The curtains were closed, and it was dark. I realized I fell asleep next to Regulus and it had got to be the middle of the night, and he must have put me there and left, which annoyed me. He could have at least said bye or goodnight.

I pulled the covers back so I could check the time on the clock above the couch, and, to my immense surprise, I saw Regulus fast asleep on the couch. His mouth was slightly open, one of his arms was falling off of the couch and the other was resting over his side. He looked like a sound sleeper, even if he did keep moving around a lot.

I didn't even check the time before I closed the curtain again and fell almost instantly back asleep.

* * *

The next morning I woke to find Regulus reading a book from one of the bookshelves. He smiled at me as I sat down next to him and then kissed my forehead.

"Good morning," he said brightly.

"You're in a good mood," I replied, curling into his side like the night before. He shrugged and set his book aside.

"You hungry?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"Not really." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"No wonder you are so skinny," he said. "You never eat."

"I do too eat," I retorted.

"I've never seen you eat." I huffed and cross my arms.

"Doesn't mean I don't eat." He laughed.

"You're a stubborn one."

"You didn't know this?" I asked jokingly. "That is possibly the most obvious thing about me." He laughed again.

"You got that right." I hit him lightly on the arm and he chuckled and shook his head at me. Then, suddenly, he frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly. I raised my eyebrows at him. "Okay, I was just thinking…you don't go to Hogwarts do you?" Well, I couldn't stretch the truth with this one, so I shook my head. Regulus sighed. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." he paused. "How do you learn if you don't go to Hogwarts?" Oh shit - I could practically hear Mother going "Nicole!"

"I…um…my Godfather teaches me." I paused.

"I thought you didn't even know if your parents were wizards?"

"I don't," I said quickly. Shit I needed to learn to keep up with my lies. "He…he doesn't talk about them. I, erm, I guess it hurts too much, y'know? They were friends for, erm, ten or so years." I paused. "But in May, he, well, he died," I said quietly. That part wasn't a lie.

Regulus put his hand in mine and squeezed lightly, causing me to smile slightly at him.

"I was going to write to Dumbledore and see if I could go to school at Hogwarts, but then, well, I arrived here…"

"Well then, we'll just have to write to Dumbledore."

* * *

A week later, after Dumbledore responded to Regulus and I was accepted into Hogwarts, Regulus and I went to Diagon Alley with Narcissa. She went to go get our books while we went to go get robes. We finished before she did and went down to meet her at the bookshop. I separated from Regulus and Narcissa, who were looking for our Transfiguration textbook, and wandered around the Defense section looking for our Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Once I found it and grabbed two copies, I saw Regulus standing in the same aisle as me, which surprised me. His back was to me and I noticed that he looked slightly different, but I couldn't point out why. I walked up to him and when I was near him, I said,

"Hey, Regulus, I found -" I cut off as he turned around and stared in shock at the person in front of me.

It wasn't Regulus; it was Sirius.

He looked much younger and more handsome than I had ever seen him before. His hair hung to his shoulders, and I knew that meant that he was having a rough time with something; the longer his hair was, the harder time he was having. His familiar grey eyes met mine, and he furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"Who are you?" he asked. I opened my mouth to answer but couldn't find my voice. Sirius looked at me strangely. I heard my name from somewhere behind me but didn't turn around until I felt somebody grab my wrist and spin me around.

"Nicole, I've been calling your name for -" Regulus cut off as he noticed Sirius standing behind me and instantly understood; I had mistaken Sirius for himself.

Sirius nostrils flared and Regulus glared at him; I knew a coming fight when I saw one. I put my hand on Regulus chest and pushed lightly, trying to get him to turn around.

"Come on, Regulus." When he didn't move, I pushed a little harder. "Let's go find Narcissa-"

"You go," he said quietly, looking away from Sirius and at me for the first time. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."

"Regulus," I said, my voice holding a clear warning. His glare was now directed at me.

"Go, Nicole." I sighed and stepped behind him. I moved to the next aisle over and positioned myself so that I could hear everything that was said.

"Who was that?" Sirius asked coldly.

"None of your business," Regulus replied, just as coldly. I heard Sirius huff and say,

"Is she your girlfriend?" Regulus didn't reply. "She doesn't go to Hogwarts, does she? I've never seen her around." Once again, Regulus didn't reply. I heard Sirius say something else, but it didn't register in my mind, for I had just saw a familiar head of unmanageable black hair walking in Sirius direction with another boy who was a few inches shorter than him with light brown hair.

James and Remus.

"Hey, Mate, what're you doing?" James called as I saw him come up behind Sirius. Then he caught sight of Regulus, and opened his mouth to say something, but I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Narcissa behind me.

"Where did Regulus go?"

"He ran into Sirius," I answered simply, and she understood right away. I followed her to the next aisle, where Sirius had his wand pointed at Regulus, who didn't even have his out. James and Remus stood behind Sirius, not shocked at all at the scene in front of them. Narcissa came up behind Regulus and said,

"What is going on here?" Regulus didn't even look at her, but kept his gaze on Sirius, as six eyes travelled from Narcissa to me back to Regulus. My eye were locked on James and I almost couldn't find my breath.

James. My father. My _dead_ father. He was standing in front of me: teenaged, living, breathing, _alive_.

He must have the same sharp senses as me and Harry, for it was obvious he felt my eyes on him because he turned to look at me again. Our eyes met for a brief second before I averted my eyes to Narcissa, who had turned her gaze to Sirius.

"Come on, Regulus. We still have to get you and Nicole some more potions ingredients and we have to be back by six." She put her hand on Regulus' shoulder and turned him around before she glanced toward Sirius one last time. She led Regulus toward the front to pay for our books and Regulus grabbed my hand and pulled me after them. I know he noticed me take one last, fleeting glance at James, who, along with Remus and Sirius, was staring after us, before I followed his to the front.

When we were back at Malfoy Manor later that night, Regulus and I were sitting in my room looking over our books when he brought it back up.

"Why were you looking at Potter like that?" I pretended to be confused.

"Who's Potter?"

"James Potter, the black-haired boy with Sirius in the bookshop. Now why were you looking at him that way?"

"What way? I was just looking at him." Regulus gave me a look that said he clearly didn't believe me.

You have no idea how much, at that moment, I wanted to tell him. To tell him that James is my dad and I was sent from the future. But I knew he would never believe me.

"Something wrong?" he asks, and I know instantly that my want, and nearly need, to show him showed on my face.

I couldn't lie.

So, I nod.

"What?" he asks when I didn't respond. I sigh.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. Now tell me what's wrong." I pause, thinking.

"You won't believe me," I said quietly, putting my book aside and looking at my feet. "It's crazy."

"Of course I'll believe you. Please, Nicole, tell me what's going on."

"Do you know if Lucius has any Veritaserum?" He furrows his eyebrows as I pause. "And a Pensive?" I add. He nods, his eyebrows still furrowed. "You might want to go get them." He opens his mouth to ask me why, but I shake my head. "Believe me. You're going to want proof."

I wait for him for a few minutes before he returns with a big basin and a small vial of potion. I take the basin in my lap and remove about half an hour worth of memories before setting them in the basin. I watch as memories of Battles and deaths swirl in the basin.

"I'll tell you before I take the Veritaserum, but you are going to think I'm crazy so you'll want me to take it and tell you again."

So, very slowly and cautiously, I begin my story. And, just ask I expected, Regulus is doubtful, but I know he wants to believe me. After I take the Veritaserum and he watches the memories I have picked out to show him in the Pensive, he believes me.

As soon as he comes out of the Pensive, he envelops me into a tight hug. I start to cry into his chest again, and he holds me until cry myself to sleep in his arms on the couch.

* * *

I wake the next morning still in his arms. He is still asleep and I realize how protected I feel around him. Almost as protected as I feel around Harry, Ron, and Hermione combined. I close my eyes again and move closer to Regulus. I feel him shift his weight and I open my eyes to see his looking back at me.

"I didn't mean to wake you," I say to him quietly. He doesn't respond as he puts his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. "I don't know why I've been crying so much lately. I'm usually not this emotional." I pause, and then I smirk at him. "It must be you. You bring out the worst in me." I laugh and he glares at me.

"I should've known you were a bloody Gryffindor," he grumbled.

"I take that as a compliment." He shook his head and then a serious expression crossed his face.

"Nicole?" he asked. I looked up at him. "Are you going to tell them?"

"Who do you mean by them?"

"Potter, Evans, Lupin, Sirius, Pettigrew, Dumb -"

"I get it," I said quickly to get him to stop. "And I'm telling Dumbledore eventually. Whenever I can get some time alone with him. I won't tell the others until he tells me to….I don't even know if I'll be able to tell the others. And you can use their first names, you know." He shrugged and laid his head on the top of mine.

"Slytherins can't call Gryffindors by their first name, Potter," he said. I laughed and replied,

"It's Sawyer, Black." We both laughed.

"Why do you stay here instead of your house most of the time?" I asked suddenly. Regulus tried to hide his shock but fails.

"My parents are really annoying. They've been trying to force me to join him."

"Yes, I know your Mom is annoying, _very_ annoying." I pause. "Has he really risen to too much power yet?" Regulus shook his head.

"If he was how you explained him to be before his downfall, then he isn't powerful at all." I nod.

"Good. Maybe we will be able to keep him from rising to too much power and killing too many people."

* * *

On September first, Narcissa and Lucius, who I had actually grown to like, Side-Along Apparated Regulus and I to Kings Cross. Regulus and I leaned casually against the wall between Platform 9 and 10 and fell through.

I saw a glimpse of the Marauders and Lily out of the corner of my eye before Regulus pulls me away. Lucius helps Regulus lift his trunk and then mine onto the train. We say quick goodbyes and, to my surprise, Narcissa pulls me into a hug.

"Good luck," she says as the train blows the five minute warning whistle. "Behave yourself. And we will still like you even if you are in Gryffindor." Regulus and I laugh and then he pulls me onto the train.

"This will bum you out, but we are sitting with Snape, Avery, and Mulciber." I groaned and he chuckled slightly.

"Do you have any friends your own age?"

"Nope. Except you, although you are really negative four." I glance around as we take some seats in an empty compartment.

"Don't go around shouting about that!" I said quickly as I took a seat by the window. "You never know who could overhear you." He shrugged as the door opened and Avery and Mulciber walked in.

"Who's she?" Avery asked as the two took the seats across from us. They didn't even say hello to Regulus or acknowledge me.

"Nicole Sawyer," Regulus answered. The two turned to me and I smiled slightly at them. "She's new." He didn't mention that we were dating, which was fine by me. I didn't like these two so I wanted them to know as little about me as possible. But they probably figured we were dating since we were holding hands.

"Where's Snape?" Mulciber asked. Just then, the compartment door opened and a much younger Snape walked in. His lank greasy-black hair hung to nearly his shoulders and his skin was just as sallow as it would become in the future. His black, cold eyes met mine before he sat beside Regulus.

"Guess that answers your question," Regulus said to Mulciber. The train whistled again and then started to move slowly.

When we were nearly there I left to go change into my robes. I hadn't been saying much, but mostly because I didn't want to talk to Avery and Mulciber. I had actually caught a few glimpses of the Dark Mark on each of their left forearms. I didn't hate Snape as much as I thought I would, though. On my way to the bathroom, I ran right into somebody and stumbled backwards before a hand wrapped around my wrist and steadied me.

"Sorry," I said quickly as the hand let go of my wrist, hoping it wasn't a Slytherin. I looked up to find familiar hazel eyes staring at me. Of course, hazel eyes could've belonged to anybody, but when I looked I saw a very familiar face.

"It's all good," James replied. "Are you new?"

"Yeah, you could say I was home schooled."

"What year are you going into?"

"Sixth." I had talked to Dumbledore about how I had learned everything in fifth year already, even though I had skipped my fifth year I still knew everything that was taught in it, and he had me take my OWLs, which I had thought were really easy, and allowed me to go into my sixth year with Regulus.

James nodded. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." I smiled slightly as he walked around me and I headed toward the bathroom.

The rest of the train ride went smoothly and when we arrived I rode in a carriage with the four Slytherins. After the Sorting, Dumbledore called me up and McGonagall put the hat on my head.

"_Ahh, a time-traveler. I've never had one of you before. That future really is awful. I hope you can change it,_" the hat said in my head before it called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" I walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside a tall, black boy with a Prefect badge on his chest and a single, gold, hoop earring. It took me a minute to recognize him as Kingsley Shacklebolt.

After Dumbledore's short speech, Kingsley turned to her.

"Hello," he said in his deep, drawling voice. "I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt." I had a hard time not saying, "I know," and instead shook his hand and the girl across from him with short, very curly, brunette hair and a Prefect badge as well leaned toward me.

"I'm Mary Macdonald," she said, smiling. I then remembered Lily mentioning her in Snape's memories. I had thought she was in my parents' year but she was actually a year younger than them.

"Hello," I said pleasantly, shaking her hand as well. Regulus caught my eye from across the room and winked at me, causing me to smile at him, which didn't go unnoticed by Kingsley, who asked,

"Do you know Black?"

"Regulus?" I asked. He nodded. "Of course. I'm _dating_ Regulus." He and Mary looked shocked.

"He's a Death Eater," Mary said, a warning tone in her voice. I almost started to laugh, and Kingsley said,

"I've told you before, Mary, even _he_ wouldn't allow teenagers to join -"

"No, he lets teenagers join," I corrected. "I know some who have. But I can guarantee Regulus isn't a Death Eater."

"Are you sure?" Mary asked, eyeing Regulus across the room, who was in the middle of what looked like an argument with Mulciber.

"One hundred percent," I said confidently as I pulled some food onto my plate. I could feel Regulus watching me closely to make sure I ate something so I knew I would have to.

"Did you guys hear about the recent attack on a Muggle city in Whales?" Kingsley asked, changing the subject. "Seven Muggles were killed." Mary gasped and I pretended to be shocked; in reality, it didn't surprise me at all.

"_Seven_? Man it just keeps getting worse and worse," she said. I nodded an agreement and said,

"It doesn't help that the Ministry doesn't know what they're doing."

"There's always the Order of the Phoenix," Kingsley pointed out. "I want to join them as soon as I get out of school." I didn't remember Moody mentioning him as a part of the original Order, but that doesn't mean he wasn't.

"Not me," Mary said. "I'm staying neutral. Plus," she added, "I'm no good at dueling."

"That's not all they do," I said. "They need spies and such, you know. And I plan on joining them, too. I'm tired of hearing of more and more deaths every day." They nodded in agreement.

"What NEWT classes are you taking?" Mary asked.

"Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy," I listed off. I had decided to take enough classes so that if I should still be here for a long time I could become an Auror.

Mary said she was taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Ancient Runes and Kingsley was taking the same classes as me plus Herbology.

After the feast, I walked with Mary up to the Common Room. Even though she was a Prefect, she sent Kingsley to round up the first years so that she could show me to the Common Room. She told me a little about the history of the castle, but she didn't really know a lot about it. It seemed to me everybody slept in History of Magic in this time too.

The two of us waited in the Common Room for Kingsley and then talked to him a bit before heading to bed. I caught a glimpse of Lily and the Marauders before Mary ushered me up the stairs to our dormitories.


	5. Family

**Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., etc. Only anything you don't recognize belongs to me.**

**A/N: So school started today. My uploads may become slower because A) I never get any reviews and it seems nobody is too interested in my story and B) I'm in every advanced class their is so I get a crap load of homework.**

**It never said Alice Longbottom's maiden name in the series but I read somewhere that it was Prewett, so I just made it that here and made her Molly's cousin. **

Chapter 4

The next morning, I woke up early and took a shower. My long, strawberry-blonde hair (a mixture of my mom's and Aunt Petunia's hair color) was annoying me so I pulled it into two long braids like I often wore that hung in front of my shoulders. Just my luck, I had gotten stuck with possibly, in my opinion, the worst combination of hair; my dad's unmanageable and messiness, my mom's thickness, Aunt Petunia's and my mom's color mixed, and whoever I had gotten the annoying waves from. Until I was ten, I had it cut to about shoulder length because I couldn't keep good care of it.

Once Mary was ready, we met Kingsley in the Common Room. As we walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, I realised the two were like Ron and Hermione. They bickered continuously and had only switched places; Mary was the carefree one like Ron and Kingsley was the "know-it-all" like Hermione.

I sat down at the Gryffindor table across from them and we started discussing the news about another attack that had happened the night before with Frank Longbottom, who greatly resembled Neville, was in our year (which surprised me greatly because Alice was a seventh year), and was sitting near us.

When Frank was telling us about the Death Eaters who had been seen during the attack, I was surprised to see Regulus sit down on the bench next to me. Frank stopped talking abruptly and everyone stared at him. Regulus laughed.

"I knew I was going to get funny looks for sitting over here." He paused and stopped laughing. "I'll probably get a ton of dirty looks, as well. Hello Macdonald, Shacklebolt, Longbottom." He nodded to each one in turn before turning back to me. "Good morning babe." I smiled.

"Good morning." He was either oblivious to practically the whole school staring at him in shock or just ignoring them. Either way, it made me glad to be his girlfriend.

"Anyway," Frank said, looking away from Regulus, "Selwyn was caught, and Travers, Rosier and, you're never going to believe it, but Augustus Rookwood were all spotted without their hoods."

"Rookwood? From the Department of Mysteries?" Kingsley replied, shocked. Frank nodded.

"I know that was my reaction too. He says he was forced. I don't buy it."

"Did you say they caught Selwyn?" Regulus asked. Frank nodded again as the three turned to stare at him again. "Good. That guy is ruthless." The other three seemed shocked that he was glad a Death Eater was caught.

"_You_ are _glad_ that he was caught?" Mary asked. Regulus nodded slowly, confused. "Why? I mean, you're one of them." I hit my forehead and Regulus laughed out loud.

"You think I'm a Death Eater?" he asked.

"I told you he wasn't yesterday, Mary," I said to her.

"You're not?" she asked Regulus. He shook his head and pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed her his forearm.

"No Dark Mark," he said before pulling his sleeve back down.

"Regulus?"

Regulus and I turned around to see Sirius standing behind us with the other three Marauders behind him.

"What're you doing over here?" Regulus glanced at me and replied,

"I'm sitting with my girlfriend." He paused. "Is there a problem with that?" Sirius looked at me, probably surprised that Regulus had a Gryffindor girlfriend, before leading his friends to a seat far away from Regulus.

The schedules got passed down and since Regulus was in all the same classes as me and in NEWT years all the houses combine for classes, he didn't bother go to his table to get his schedule. We had a break first and our first class was Defence Against the Dark Arts before lunch.

I wasn't looking forward to DADA. Regulus had told me that the DADA teachers usually taught the sixth years the Unforgivable Curses during their first class and I hated those curses with all of my might.

"Who's the Defence teacher?" I asked the table at large.

"Perkins," Kingsley answered. "He's an ex-Auror. I've heard he's a great teacher for Defence because he's really been there, y'know?" I gulped. The last ex-Auror we had had as a teacher was really a Death Eater in disguise.

"We're his first class," Kingsley continued. "As long as he's better than Anderson from last year, I'm fine with him."

"How bad was Anderson?"

"Bad," Frank answered. "He was so strict even Kingsley was given detentions and only a very few lucky people passed his class because he hardly taught us anything and then the tests were all over things we shouldn't have been taught in that year." I made a face and said,

"Glad I wasn't here last year."

Mary and Kingsley decided to spend their morning outside in the sun before classes started. Regulus and I joined them under a willow tree by the lake.

Before we knew it, we were headed to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Mary and Kingsley had accepted Regulus quickly and had even sat in the middle of the classroom with a seat for him. At least something was going my way for once.

As soon as nearly all of the seats were taken, the door at the front of the room that led to Perkins office and living quarters slammed open, causing nearly everybody to jump. A tall, agile-looking wizard wearing emerald green robes entered, peering slowly over his square spectacles at each student in turn. I noticed his eyes rest on me a bit longer than the others. He was slim and young, with short blond hair and a receding hair line. His bushy eyebrows seemed permanently in a frown and nearly formed one.

"Hello class," he said in a low, clear voice. "Please clear your desk of everything except parchment and a quill." There was a rustling of books and parchment before Perkins continued.

"As you all know, I am Professor Perkins. Today, I will be teaching you what the three Unforgivable curses are." He paused, as if for dramatic effect, before continuing.

"Does anybody know how many Unforgivable curses there are?" A few scattered people raised there hand and pointed to a pink-cheeked, black-haired witch in the front who looked vaguely familiar. "Yes, Miss –?"

"Jones, sir," she replied, and then I knew why she looked familiar; she was Hestia Jones, a part of the Order in the 1990s. "There are three, sir."

"Right you are. And they are so named?"

"Because the use of any one of them is unforgivable and earns you a life sentence in Azkaban."

"Good, very good, ten points to Ravenclaw. Now, can anybody name one of the curses?" Several hands went up; Mary, Kingsley, Regulus, and I included. "How about two of them?" Mary dropped her hand, along with several of the other students. "All three?" Every hand went down beside mine and Regulus'. I wasn't shocked that he still had his up; after all, I had told him that all three of them had been used on me when Voldemort had me captive.

Perkins looked over his spectacles at us. "You must be the new student, Miss Sawyer, am I correct?" he asked me. I nodded. "Well, Miss Sawyer, can you tell me the first curse?"

"The Imperius Curse, sir." He nodded and replied,

"What's the curse do?"

"It causes the victim to follow all of the commands of the caster. It is possible to resist, but considered very hard to do so." Perkins nodded.

"The next curse."

"The Cruciatus Curse. It causes unbearable pain. It's been said this pain has included the sensations of flaming bones and a head that was split open by crude methods without sedation." He waves his hand as if impatient, and I know he wants me to tell the last curse. I swallow slightly and say, "The last one is the Killing Curse. You just say the words, there's a flash of green light, and it's over. There's no blocking it and nobody has ever survived it." I was tempted to add a "yet," but if I managed to change the future like I had come to do, nobody would ever have to survive it.

"Right you are, Miss Sawyer. Thirty points to Gryffindor." I smiled, trying to make it convincing enough so the other students would think that I was glad to have earned thirty points, when all I could think about was Harry. Twenty years into the future, what was he doing? Had he been able to forgive himself, since I knew him enough to know he would blame himself for every death that had occurred? Or was he still blaming himself and, for all I knew, depressed, even suicidal?

The next thing I knew, class was over and I was following Regulus out of the classroom.

"Did he assign homework?" I ask him quietly so that only he knows I wasn't paying attention most of the class period. Regulus nods and relays the homework to me.

"I'm going to the library so I can do the Defence homework before we get heaps of it from McGonagall this afternoon," Kingsley said. We all had a break before lunch, then Mary and Kingsley had Herbology and then we all had Transfiguration. "Are you guys going to join me?"

"No," Mary said in a "duh" type of voice. "I told Lily I'd meet her outside by the lake for a while. I haven't gotten to see her yet." I can feel Regulus' eyes on me but I look pointedly away from him. Mary waved at us and headed toward the grounds. Kingsley rolled his eyes and I turned to Regulus.

"What do you want to do?" He paused to think and said,

"We can do our homework during our break after lunch. We should spend the rest of our morning outside."

* * *

It wasn't until dinner on Saturday that I actually met Lily and the Marauders.

Regulus was eating with the Slytherins that day, which didn't bother me one bit. I got to keep my friends, why shouldn't he get to keep his? Mary was shocked I didn't care.

"Why doesn't it bother you? It would bother me if my boyfriend was sitting with _them_," she said as she sat across from Frank and next to Kingsley and I sat across from her at the dinner table. I merely shrugged. "I don't get you, Nicole." I laughed.

"Well, I am pretty complicated. I don't know how Regulus puts up with me." Mary laughed and then suddenly stood up and waved. I turned to see Lily and who I knew had to be Alice Longbottom...or would become Alice Longbottom at least. "Who's that?" I ask, even though I already knew.

"The red-head is Lily Evans, the other is Alice Prewett." I didn't know Molly was related to Alice. Considering they didn't look too much alike, I assumed they were cousins. I just nod as the two walk over and sat on Mary's other side.

"Hello Mary," Lily said before she glanced at me. "Hello, Nicole, right? I'm Lily Evans." She held out her hand and I shook it before Alice turned to me.

"Alice Prewett." I shook her hand as well and said,

"Nice to meet you both."

"You too."

"So you were home schooled?" Lily asked. I nodded.

"My Godfather taught me until – until he died."

"Sorry," Alice said quietly, but Lily looked confused.

"But what about the Trace?"

"He had to get special permission from the Ministry."

"Why didn't you just come to Hogwarts?" I shrugged.

"He didn't really want me to. I don't know why. He's really paranoid about things like that."

"So what's being home schooled like?" Alice asked. I shrugged again and made a face.

"It really sucks, actually. I didn't really have any friends except my brother, and, really, what girl wants to say her older brother is her best friend?" In truth, Harry was one of my best friends and I would gladly admit it. They all nodded, understanding. "And there really isn't anything to do beside read or homework." Alice looked pointedly at Lily and Mary pointedly looked at Kingsley, who, along with Frank, had been listening silently. Frank and I laughed and Lily groaned. She was looking toward the Entrance Hall and we all looked where she was looking to see what I knew was unmistakably the four Marauders.

James caught sight of Lily and smiled at her before heading our way. Lily groaned again and buried her head in her face.

"Hello Lily," James said as he came up behind her. The other three stopped behind him, and I couldn't help but glare at an oblivious Wormtail, if only for a second before turning back to James. "You look nice today." I think I was the only one to notice Lily going slightly redder than she was before she replied sarcastically,

"Are you saying I look ugly usually?" Nice to know where my sarcasm came from.

James opened and closed his mouth like a fish for a moment. Alice, Mary, Frank, Kingsley and I sniggered, and I noticed Sirius, Remus, and Peter trying to hide their laugher behind their hands. Finally James came up with a reply.

"No," he said matter-of-factly. "You look lovely _every_day, but you look _exceptionally_ nice today." Sirius and I were the only ones still laughing after this.

Lily didn't look pleased with him.

"What do you want Potter?" she asked, and I had to force myself not to involuntarily look at her when I was also used to behind called Potter.

James smirked. "Just to talk to you." Lily frowned at him.

"Save your breath; I'm not going out with you Potter." James frowned. "I don't know how many times I'll have to tell you that to get it through that thick head of yours." She grabbed her bag, through it over her shoulder, and left without another glance back. Alice frowned, muttered something under her breath, and got up to follow Lily.

James sighed, and Sirius, still smiling but trying to hide it, patted his shoulder.

"Tough luck mate." James huffed and sat down in the seat Lily had just vacated before burying his face in his hands. Sirius sat down next to him and started to pile food onto his plate. Remus and Peter sat on his Sirius other side.

"That happens nearly everyday since my second year. You think James would get the point and move on," Frank said quietly to me, but James heard him and shot him a dirty look.

"Better shut up if you know what's good for you Longbottom," he said coldly. Frank held up his hands in mock surrender and started talking to Sirius about the latest professional Quidditch match.

"The Cannon's are going to finish bottom again," Sirius stated. "I just know it."

"The Cannon's _still_ suck?" I asked. When I received shocked looks from everyone nearby, even James – who was too depressed to do anything – and Remus, I furrowed my eyebrows and shrugged. "What? I haven't followed professional Quidditch since I lived with my brother when I was like thirteen." Every time I lied, a voice in my head said _lies_, and it did that just now.

"Well, yeah, they still suck," Frank said. "And I have a feeling they will suck for the next twenty years."

"You have no idea," I muttered under my breath so nobody could hear me, but I saw Kingsley give me a strange look out of the corner of my eye. I pretended not to notice and listened to Frank and Sirius now arguing over who was going to win the Quidditch World Cup. I racked my brain, trying to remember who had won. I knew it was held in Greece, and France and America were in it...

"I think France is going to win," I said, remembering that they won but only by a small margin.

"Do you now?" Frank asked thoughtfully.

"I thought you said you hadn't followed Professional Quidditch since you were thirteen?" Sirius asked, narrowing his eyebrows at me.

"That was only two and half years ago," I said, shrugging. "Plus, there are only four teams left, right? France, America, Mexico, and Portugal?" Sirius and Frank nodded. "I think France is the best out of them. I at least think they'll make it to the World Cup." I paused. "They're having it in Germany, right?"

"Where did you hear that?" Frank asked. "They haven't announced where it's being held yet." I frowned; usually they announced it before the games even started.

"I don't know, that's just what I heard. I guess I was wrong." I shrugged. "Who plays here?"

"James," Sirius pated James on the back, "Is a Chaser and the captain, yours truly is a Beater, and Frank over there is Keeper." He paused. "Do you play?"

"Well," I said slowly. I wasn't on the team in my time, but I didn't consider myself a terrible player. I usually played Chaser when I played with Harry and the Weasleys, but I was a decent Seeker too. "I _can_ play."

"We're in need of another Beater and two Chasers," James said suddenly, surprising everybody. "And nearly everybody that tried out last year stinks. Sure somebody new could try out, or a second year could try out, but I highly doubt any of them are any good. All of our players are at least fourth years this year. If you're any good, you should try out."

"Well I don't know if I'm good enough to make the team. I'd probably make a complete fool of myself..." I pause, biting my lip lower. "...Which is what I do best, so what the hell? Might as well try out." Frank patted me on the back and James smiled.

"You'd be a great addition to the team," Frank said. "And, unless the other new members are girls, you'll be the only girl. The only two on it last year graduated."

"Sexist much?" I joked. Frank and Kingsley rolled their eyes and Mary laughed. "When are the tryouts?"

"Two weeks," James said. I smiled.

"I'll be there."

**A/N: Yeah, I know not a whole lot happened. **

**I'm considering bringing Harry in for a while. I just think since it's a _Harry_ Potter fanfic, it should have Harry in it. Plus I like writing Harry. So should I? Tell me in a review!**

**Please review! It makes my day! And even if everything you have to say is criticism, I could use a little constructive criticism.**


	6. Honesty and Patronuses

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., ect. Except anything you don't recognize.**

**A/N: Once again, sorry that not a lot happens in this chapter.  
**

Chapter 5

I had never expected sixth years to get as much homework as we did our second and third week of school. It was like we were back in our fifth year and having OWLs again at the end of the year.

Frank had taken to hanging around Mary, Kingsley and I, and Regulus was just as welcome in our group as any of us. Often, Lily and Alice would sit in the Common Room or at meal times with us to sit by Mary, and the Marauders often sat by us to sit by Frank. And I could guarantee that whenever you saw Lily with us, James would jump at the chance to be by her. They were now on talking terms, as were Sirius and Regulus. The two would hardly have a complete conversation together, but at least they were talking.

Time flew by, and soon it was the weekend of the Quidditch tryouts. Regulus had allowed me to borrow his broom while he had one ordered for me, telling me it was an early birthday present even though I knew he was going to get me another present.

I walked down to the pit with our whole group: Mary, Kingsley, Frank, Lily, Alice, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, Regulus and I. Regulus, Mary, Kingsley, Lily, Alice, Remus and Peter headed up toward the seats and I walked with Frank a little behind James, Sirius, and the Gryffindor Seeker CJ Connelly, a fifth year. He was whispering hints to me as a group of about thirty people carrying brooms came up in front of us, but I just laughed at each hint because I already knew them.

James had the Beaters try out first, and a third year named Dante Leon was the pick. He was fairly good; no match to Sirius or the Weasley twins, but he might only need more practice. He had out-flown everybody, including his twin brother Dijon.

I was surprised that I was one of the best Chaser's to try out, along with a very pretty fourth year named Anna Rivers and a fairly handsome fifth year named Brandon Taylor. Frank even told me that I had a similar tactic as James and was nearly as good at him. I knew our group of friends were close enough to hear us and I turned and winked at Regulus, but I saw Kingsley catch it too.

In the end, Rivers and I out-flew Taylor and, to my surprise, he took it, as they say, "like a man." I had expected him to be a sore loser, but he just shook our hands and said,

"Good job, you both deserve it. Win that House Cup for Gryffindor this year." He winked at Rivers, who blushed and quickly headed toward a group of fourth year girls who congratulated her.

Frank, Sirius, James, and I caught up to the rest of our group, who all congratulated me and said that Slytherin didn't stand a chance this year.

"Too bad you're in Slytherin, Regulus," Alice said as we were dropping Regulus off near the dungeons. "We could all hang out together, but the only neutral places are the Great Hall and library and it's nearly curfew." I looked at Regulus, we each nodded to each other in silent agreement, and I said,

"Come on."

'Where are you going?" Frank asked as Regulus and I led them up to the seventh floor and to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. I walked past the blank wall opposite it thinking, _I need a place for eleven to hang out for a while. I need a place for eleven to hang out for a while..._ And when I looked after walking past it the third time, the familiar door appeared.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Sirius asked.

"How did you know it was there?" Kingsley asked, suspicious, as Regulus pulled the door opened and led the eleven of us in.

There was a number of red sofas and armchairs all surrounding a large table and fireplace in the wall. The walls were a darker red with gold trimming and Regulus, the only Slytherin, didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"Regulus and I came across it once," I answered Kingsley. "It's only here if you need it, and you have to walk past the wall three times thinking of what you need it to turn into and you have it."

Regulus and I sat on a couch together, while Sirius, James, and Remus sat on another, Frank, Kingsley, and Mary on another and Lily, Alice, and Peter each sat on an armchair.

We all hung out until Lily and Alice fell asleep around midnight, at which point the room expanded and eleven four-posters with red curtains appeared. Frank carried Alice and James carried Lily – which I found really cute considering I knew those were future couples if my presence didn't mess anything up – to a bed and Kingsley, Remus, and Peter each laid down on their own bed before they fell asleep.

I must have fallen asleep on Regulus soon afterward, because the next thing I know I'm waking up in a four-poster bed. It took me a minute to remember what had happened the night before. Regulus, Sirius, and James were all asleep on separate couches so I guessed they must have all fallen asleep there, and one of them must have carried me to the four-poster.

I wasn't the first one up, though. On the last couch left, Lily and Remus sat talking, probably discussing homework or something. Instead of joining them on the spare couch, I moved Regulus legs enough to make room for myself on the couch next to him.

The next up were Alice, Kingsley, Peter, and Mary. We all decided to wake the three snoozing on the sofas and then we headed down to breakfast together.

"Did I fall asleep on you?" Regulus asked me. I shook my head.

"I thought I fell asleep on you."

"Oh well you both fell asleep at the same time," Sirius said from behind us. "James put you in a bed, Nicole, but we couldn't lift you, Regulus, so we just laid you down on the couch."

"Nicole, you need to gain some weight. You're way to thin," James said. I merely shrugged. Regulus, who was holding my hand, squeezed it reassuringly.

"I agree with him, you know," Regulus said quietly.

"Yes, but you know as well as I do that it isn't my fault." He squeezed my hand lightly again.

"I know. It's _his_."

* * *

It had been about a month since Quidditch tryouts. My birthday had passed, as had the first Hogsmeade trip. I had talked to McGonagall about how all of my guardians were dead and she had allowed me to have Narcissa sign the form and I could go.

I knew that Kingsley had been suspecting something was up between Regulus and I, besides a relationship, and that he had been relaying it all to Mary. Every time somebody would say something about the future, either Regulus or I would wink at each other, and I seemed to know everything in DADA and everything about Death Eaters and Voldemort. I didn't know what he thought, but one day, he and Mary confronted us on it.

Regulus and I were in the library doing Charms homework on a Friday morning before our first class when Kingsley and Mary joined us. We were sitting near the back where Madam Pince wouldn't get on us for talking above a whisper.

"How come you know everything about Death Eaters and Voldemort?" Mary asked suddenly. Since Voldemort hadn't gotten such a strong hold on things yet, only a few people had started calling him You-Know-Who, but it was less and less common to hear "Voldemort."

I shrugged.

"Just do. My Godfather knew a lot about him, so he passed the information on to me."

"There's something going on here. Something that only you two," Kingsley pointed at me and Regulus, "know about. Not only do you know a lot about Voldemort, but you know everything in Defense and always wink at each other when somebody says something about the future."

I looked to Regulus, who looked at me, and we exchanged a silent nod.

"Meet us in the Room of Requirement in ten minutes."

* * *

Ten minutes later, we sat across from Kingsley and Mary in the Room of Requirement. I was wringing my hands nervously, until Regulus reached over and grabbed one of them and squeezed it.

"Well?" Mary asked impatiently after a moment.

"Well...ha, ha," I laughed nervously. "This isn't easy..."

"Just say it," Regulus said gently. I sighed.

"Just remember, this isn't easy," I said. "I, uh, I'm from the future." I paused. "1997 to be exact." They didn't say anything for a while until...

"Ha, ha, guys, not funny," Mary said. "That is possibly the lamest joke I've ever heard."

"Why would she joke about that?" Regulus asked angrily.

"Beats me, ask her!"

"Mary, I'm not joking. You don't have to believe me. But it's true. I'd swear it under Veritaserum, or by the Unbreakable Vow." Mary stared at me, shocked, and Kingsley said,

"How? And I'm not saying I believe you."

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I was hit by a Killing Curse from Voldemort, woke up twenty years later."

"I still don't believe you."

"I'm Lily and James daughter. They died on Halloween in 1981 when I was just an baby because Voldemort was after my brother, who was only one, because of some stupid prophecy. You're an Auror in the future and a part of the Order. You pretend to hate Arthur Weasley at work and are in charge of the search for Sirius, but because you know he is innocent, you purposely mislead them. Your patronus is a lynx, you're very good at dressing as a Muggle and performing wordless spells, and remain very calm under pressure. Oh, and you become Minister of Magic after Voldemort is killed in 1997." I turned to Regulus. "I don't know how I knew that, it just seemed...right. And Mary, all I know about your future is that you aren't in the Order and you were attacked by Dark Magic your, uh, fifth year, maybe, by Mulciber."

"See?" Regulus said to Kingsley and Mary. "Who would go through the time and effort to make that all up just so they could pull a prank on you when it's obvious you wouldn't believe us." They stared at me with wide eyes for a moment.

"I don't know if I should believe you or not...Who else knows?" Kingsley asked

"Nobody, well Regulus obviously, although I need to tell Dumbledore soon...I just don't know if I'm ready or not."

"Tell me something else. About the future. A long story."

So, with the help of Regulus, we tell them the whole story. Every last thing. And when we finished, they was shocked.

"I believe you now," Kingsley said after a moment. "Nobody would waste their time making up _that_ story." Mary nodded an agreement. I smiled at them.

"Thanks guys. _This_ fool," I pointed my thumb to Regulus, "made me take Veritaserum and put my memories in a Pensive before he believed me." Regulus smiled sheepishly, and Kingsley and Mary laughed. "Please don't tell anybody. Not yet. I'm not ready..."

"We won't," Mary said kindly. "Not until you tell us too. Not like anybody would believe us anyway."

"And don't tell Lupin that you know of his, ahh, condition," Regulus added. When we all gave him shocked looks, he said, "What? I'm starting to wish I was a Gryffindor. And Lupin is my friend now–"

"Yet you still call him Lupin?" I asked him jokingly. He shrugged and said,

"Well, we should go now. Since Defense starts in a few minutes we should head there. Didn't Perkins say we are learning Patronuses today?" I nodded as I led the others toward the door and then the DADA classroom.

Frank was already seated in our usual seats in the middle of the room talking to a witch from Gryffindor in front of him. He waved us over to him when he saw us.

"Hey guys, where did you escape to?" I glanced at Regulus, suddenly feeling bad for leaving Frank out of the loop, but decided that it was best if he didn't know that he would be – had been? – tortured into insanity along with Alice.

"We were doing homework in the library. You were with Alice anyway," Mary said, recovering before I did. I smiled at her, thanking her silently. Mary smiled back sympathetically and took the seat next to Frank so I didn't have to worry about him finding out somehow.

"Good morning, class," Perkins said as he entered the room. "As you know, today is a practical lesson so you can put your books, quills, and parchment away and get out your wands." He paused to allow time for everybody to follow his directions.

Perkins gave a lecture on the Patronus Charm before he waved his wand and our desks and chairs staked in the corners of the room. We had to pick partners, and I had Regulus use one of his Slytherin friends so Mary wouldn't be left alone.

"Got a happy memory?" I asked. Since I had nearly produced a corporeal Patronus in the D.A. in my third year, I knew I could probably produce one now. And I even had a happier memory now.

Mary nodded and said,

"_Expecto patronum_!" along with several other students.

There were a few fogs of silver smoke, but nothing else.

I continued to let Mary try until Perkins walked over to us.

"I haven't seen you try yet, Miss Sawyer. Go ahead." I sighed and said clearly, thinking of when I was with my parents for the first time right before I came to this time,

"_Expecto patronum!"_

A silver wolf erupted from my wand, made a lap around the room, and disappeared into my wand.

I never had understood why Harry had had James' patronus form as his but I had a wolf instead of a doe like Lily, but never given it much thought until now. I guess, in a way, a wolf fit me better than a doe. I had heard wolves symbolised power, strength, cunning, pride, courage, family, loyalty, beauty, and even evil, some things I had been told several times all reside in me somewhere. A doe was meant to represent femininity, grace, innocence, and vulnerability, each of which I didn't concider to be a part of me.

I didn't realize the whole class staring at me in awe until then.

"Miss Sawyer, you just conjured a _corporeal_ patronus without even looking pleased," Perkins said. I shrugged.

"It isn't the first time I've tried. It's the first time I've _succeeded_, but I have been taught how to produce a Patronus before." Perkins still seemed shocked that I had produced a corporeal patronus, but just turned to tell the students to keep trying.

* * *

"A _corporeal_ patronus?" Lily asked, shocked.

We were all, except Frank and Alice, sitting in the Room of Requirement after our classes that day around the fire. We didn't know where Frank and Alice were, but didn't really care. We had taken to spending more time in the Room of Requirement than in the Common Room; not only because Regulus could stay with us, but also because it could give us anything we needed or wanted.

I shrugged.

"It's really not that big of a deal," I said.

"What animal was it?" Sirius asked, intrigued.

"Wolf," Mary answered. "Which shocked me. I thought she would've had a tiger or something. Or a doe." She added the last part to me in an undertone and I hit her arm lightly.

"Really?" Remus asked. "Wolves symbolize power, strength – "

" – Cunning, pride, courage, family, loyalty, beauty, and even evil," I finished. "I've heard. From Kingsley _and_ Lily."

"Power? Strength? Pride? Evil? I don't really see any of those in you, no offence," James said.

"None taken," I replied. "And you'd be surprised." James rose an eyebrow.

"Really? I don't think so."

"I wouldn't challenge her, Potter," Regulus warned. "She's small but feisty and tough. I think all of those words fit for her. Even evil." He smirked at me and I hit him. "See?" I hit him again. "You're only proving my point." I huffed and muttered,

"Boys."

"No," Mary corrected. "Slytherins." Sirius high-fived her and I laughed.

"For once, I agree with you, Mary."

"Oho, you just got dissed by your own girlfriend!" Sirius said, laughing. Regulus wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"No, she dissed Slytherins, and I quite honestly wish I wasn't a Slytherin. Even Hufflepuff would be better than that." Sirius smiled.

"I have taught you well." Remus snorted.

"You? Teach him? He has twice as many brains as you." It could've been taken rudely or taken jokingly, depending on the tone of voice you said it in, and Remus said it quite rudely. I frowned. Was the full moon coming up?

"Don't mind him," Sirius said, noticing my frown. "It's his time of the month." I smiled. Yep, the full moon was the next day.

"Don't let it get to you," I said as I stood up and headed toward the side room that the room had created for the beds. I pated Remus' shoulder on the way out, and giggled at the look of shock and confusion on his face.

Wait, did I just say I _giggled_?

Ugh, I need to spend less time with Lily, Alice, and Mary.


	7. Halloween

**A/N: Okay so this would've been posted earlier but I was watching Glee and America's Got Talent, and school started recently so I have to worry about that, plus dance twice a week, so updates will probably start to become spaced out more. Sorry! **

**Also, something actually happens in the chapter! I promise!**

Chapter 6

A week before Halloween I started to get depressed. I knew that Voldemort hadn't killed Lily and James yet in this time, but_ I_ had already lived through it. Even before I went to Hogwarts and knew my parents were killed on Halloween, I was always depressed around this time of year. I had always assumed that it was because Remus was always depressed and I just followed along, but now I figured that somewhere deep down I had always known.

I had started to wear thick, black eyeliner and mascara. The little weight I had managed to gain back was lost just as fast, if not faster, and I hardly ate anything. Since I was ambidextrous, I had started to write with my left hand more, which was an impulse I had always had when I was feeling depressed. I had cut my previously nose-length side bangs to eyebrow level but kept them swept to the side and put some dark purple and natural-looking red highlights in my hair. I had gotten a lot quieter than usual, my performance in classes dwindled down, and I couldn't fall asleep without Regulus by my side; he and I stayed in the Room of Requirement every night.

The only thing, really, that didn't change was my performance in Quidditch. In fact, if anything, I had improved. I would be letting James down if I suddenly became worse than the first years that tried out and, if we lost the upcoming game against Hufflepuff because of me, letting down everyone in Gryffindor.

Luckily, I didn't have to go to classes on Halloween because it was on a Saturday, but, unluckily, there was a Hogsmeade trip. Regulus had told me I didn't have to go if I didn't want to, but I did want to, so I told him I'd go with him but just for a little while.

"Nicole, you really need to eat," Mary coaxed at breakfast on Halloween. I shook my head.

"I'm not hungry."

"It hasn't even happened yet," Regulus said quietly, but not quiet enough.

"What hasn't happened yet?" James asked. He and Sirius had just sat down on either side of Lily, who had finally agreed to go to Hogsmeade with James the next day as long as they weren't alone the whole time.

"Erm...well...Nicole was told by a seer that on Halloween something terrible was going to happen so she should watch not only her but her friends' backs," Regulus made up quickly. "But they told her this three years ago and never said what Halloween. Ever since she was thirteen she's been getting depressed around Halloween." That much was true; I was thirteen when I had started to get worse than I had before then. This was my third year changing my hair, loosing weight, and writing with my left hand around this time of year, but since I didn't age – why I had never been able to figure out – I was still stuck in my fifteen-year-old body.

"Divination is a load of dragon dung," Lily said. "Nothing is going to happen, Nicole," she said reassuringly.

"You have no idea," I muttered so only Regulus and Mary could understand me.

"What?" Lily asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know if I agree or not. My Godfather never taught me Divination."

"Divination is possibly the only subject Lily and Remus suck at," Sirius said, sniggering. Lily huffed and smacked his head and Regulus whispered in my ear,

"That must be where you get it from." I hit his arm lightly, but smiled for the first time in weeks nonetheless.

"There's that beautiful smile," James said, smiling at me. Regulus wrapped his arm around my waist possessively and said,

"Watch it Potter. She's mine. You've got Evans." I felt like slapping Regulus again; James, hitting on me?

James laughed slightly. "I'm not hitting on her. Just stating how it is." He paused and looked from me to Lily. "Ironically, her smile reminds me of Lily's."

"I'm right here, no need to talk about me like I'm not," I said, pretending to be annoyed, trying to distract James from Regulus, Mary, and Kingsley's snickering. "But thanks for the compliment, James."

"We should all meet up in the Three Broomsticks later today," Lily said, obviously trying to change the subject. "Around three?"

"Sounds good to me, but somebody should pass it on to Frank, Alice, Remus, and Peter," Mary pointed out.

"Peter isn't going today," James said. "He said something about homework and not feeling well. He's becoming really distant, and I get the feeling he's trying to purposely distance himself from us for some reason." I saw Kingsley, Mary, and Regulus exchange looks and I looked pointedly away from them all.

"I've noticed it too," Sirius stated. "And the other day, you won't believe this, but I saw him walking through the corridors with _Snivellus_. He scurried away before I could ask him what was going on..." He continued to ramble on as I turned to Regulus and whispered into his ear,

"He has to get better at hiding that he's up to something, or I don't know how they didn't see before that _he_ was the traitor, not Sirius."

"I know, it's very obvious."

"Hey Moony, what's wrong?"

I had been so wrapped up in my conversation with Regulus that I didn't realize Remus had sat moodily down next to Kingsley.

"James and Lily are going to Hogsmeade together, Frank and Alice are going together, Kingsley, Sirius, and Mary all have dates, Regulus and Nicole are going together, and Peter isn't going so I have _nobody_ to go with." I turned to Regulus.

"I'm sure your gang of Slytherins could use another one," I said to him. I had soon found out that Snape, Mulciber, and Avery had others that were in their 'gang', including Lestrange, Rosier, Wilkes, Selwyn, and Yaxley, all of which were in our year. I had heard Sirius mention nearly all of them at one point in time in the future, and had even met most of them.

Regulus sighed but smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I haven't hung out with them for a while."

"No, I don't want to intrude – " Remus began, but I waved him down.

"You're not," I said, "Regulus needs some friends of his own, as do I. I don't mind spending my time with you. On the contrary, I think I would rather enjoy spending some time with somebody _other_ than Regulus. And if the crazy hair," I pointed to my hair, where I had added some dark brown highlights, "embarrasses you, I need to remove at least one color anyway."

"No, you need to remove all three," Regulus said. "If you don't, I will find that book you found these spells in and remove them myself." I had made the mistake of telling him I had found spells to magically add/remove highlights and to curl, straighten, cut, grow, or put up hair in a book in the library here while helping Hermione look for spells to do her hair for the Yule Ball. "Your hair was perfect as it was." I smiled at him.

"Flattery will not work." I heard him mutter, "shit" as I turned back to Remus.

"It's not a big deal, really, I'd feel bad if I made you go alone. We are all meeting up in the Three Broomsticks at three anyways. Don't forget Regulus." I added the last part in a stern voice directed toward Regulus. Sirius made a whip noise, and I glared at him. He turned innocently to talk to Lily and James.

Fifteen minutes later, I was walking with Remus toward Hogsmeade quietly. It wasn't an awkward silence like you might expect, but was rather comfortable.

"Mind if we visit the bookstore first?" Remus asked. I shook my head.

"I actually need a new read myself," I said. "Even though I don't like to read for class, I love to read for enjoyment."

The bookshop was right next to Zonko's. I looked into the window as we passed and realized how _crappy_, which was the only word that fit, the items were to Fred and George's items.

Thinking about Fred and George made me miss home, causing my eyes to water, so I walked quickly to catch up with Remus, who was opening the door to the bookshop. He went off to look for a History book, and I checked out the books in the New Arrivals section.

I found a few books I recognized from the future, and ended up grabbing _Quidditch Through The Ages, The Tales Of Beetle The Bard, _and _Magical Medical Home Healing: Includes Cures For Scars, Bruises, Depression, and Broken Bones_. I paid and found Remus staring at a book in the Defense section about defence against dark creatures.

"Hey Rey," I said. When he didn't move, I said gently. "Remus? Are you o – ?"

I was cut off by a loud _bang!_ from outside the shop and several screams. The ground itself seemed to shake, and I stared at Remus in shock, who stared right back at me, as the lights flickered before going off altogether. Everything was dark; even the outside world seemed to go black, except for a sickly green glow coming in through the front shop window.

_Oh Merlin, oh shit, please, please oh _please _don't mean what I think it does!_

I pulled my wand out, muttered, "_Lumos_," and heard Remus do the same. The tip of our wands lit up just as there were more bangs outside and flashes of light in all colors; red, blue, white, orange, yellow, purple –

Green.

The green flash alerted me to my senses; or it could have been the front window smashing. Either way, I ran toward the front door, ignoring the pieces of glass cutting through my robes and skin, and threw it open.

People, wizards and witches, children and adults, students and citizens alike were all running, dodging spells that were coming from deep within two dark alleyways, one on either side of the main street, nearby. Several people were lying on the ground and as I watched more fell every second. The previously bright, blue, cloudless sky was now covered in the darkest storm clouds I had ever seen. I saw lightning in the distance, but that wasn't what held my attention.

What did hold my attention was where the sickly green shimmer was coming from.

A glowing, giant green skull with a serpent for a tongue hovered over a nearby house.

The Dark Mark.

More screams were heard, as was a gasp from behind me. I turned only slightly to see Remus standing behind me, his wand held aloft like mine, but with confusion on his face at the sight of the Dark Mark.

"The Dark Mark," I explained quickly. "It's _his _mark. If it's above a building, it means murder was just committed in the building. Come on." I grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the street. Less curses were flying, but buildings were being set on fire, and I muttered a protection charm around us as I drug Remus toward the post office, which already had a small fire blazing and owls flying out everywhere. I put a quick spell on the fire as I opened the door. I told Remus to get the fastest owl and pay it whatever it wanted while I grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.

_Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Dark Mark above a home.  
_

As I scrawled _above_, a familiar chill crept over me and I scribbled even quicker; _Dementors on their way. Aurors needed._ I tied it quickly to the owl's leg that Remus brought over as there was another _bang_ and the post office shook.

"AHH!" Remus yelled. I screamed.

Fire swarmed into the building, and I broke into a sweat. I quickly threw the owl out of the window and saw it take off after the castle in the distance.

"_Aguamenti!_" Remus yelled, and I echoed him. Two jets of water shot toward the water, but it only got larger. "It's FiendFyre!" I screamed, as the chill around me got larger as did the heat. It was the oddest feeling.

"Maybe the Dementors will put it out?" Remus cried hopefully. I shook my head, sweat rolling down the sides of my face as the fire advanced on us.

"Only the caster can control it, and it's very hard to do so," I said quickly, leaning over the window I had just thrown the owl out of. We were on the third floor, and jumping would nearly ensure a broken leg. "If the caster lets it, it will destroy everything in its path."

Sweat trickled down my chest, face, and back, and the fire was now only ten feet away and was advancing quickly. All the owls had either flown off or had been caught in the fire.

Remus was desperately looking for a way out, and I cried,

"I'm so sorry Remus! This is my fault, I dragged you over here!" He seemed to glare daggers at me.

"You were only trying to help!" he said forcefully. The fire was less than five feet away.

"We'll have to jump!" I yelled over the sound of the fire. I grabbed Remus' shoulders and pushed him toward the window. "Go! I won't until you do! Hurry!" He looked like he wanted to protest, but instead threw his legs over the edge and jumped down. I heard him yell something back up at me, but I had already thrown my legs over the side and was sitting on the windowsill.

I took a final glance back at the fire, which was now less than a foot away from me. I could feel it start to lick at my robes and even more sweat fell down my back .

I pushed off of the ledge.

Air blew through my hair, and then I hit the ground. My left ankle twisted and my leg gave away and caused me to crumble to the ground.

I groaned and my vision blurred. Why was my vision burring? This wasn't pain. I had felt true pain, and this was nothing compared to the Cruicatus Curse. My ankle didn't hurt at all. But my vision was blurring anyway.

"Nick! Are you okay?" Remus asked. He seemed to have landed better than me; he was holding his left ankle, which had a slightly red mark on it, but otherwise seemed fine.

I nodded and looked up at the now engulfed building. "I'm fine. I think I twisted my ankle, but I've been through worse." Remus helped me to my feet and put his arm around my waist, took my bag and helped me limp out of the alley we had landed in.

I hated being a "damsel in distress" as they call it, like I was now. I'd much rather be the one who was helping the damsel, not actually the damsel myself. I hung out with Harry too much; in a way, I was copying him, but in a way, I just got so annoyed with him protecting me that I now hate being protected. Either way, I hated being the damsel, like I was now, but I knew I had to have help walking at least for a bit.

The first thing I saw was Dementors. And not just a few. Fifty or more, roaming the streets freely. The Death Eaters had come out of the alleys and were now standing freely in the streets. The ground was littered with people, some moving, others still. The Dark Mark now stood out from over several buildings, including the post office.

"Nobody else was in there," I said to Remus, glancing at the green skull.

"They must have saw us go in and thought we couldn't get out," he said, staring, disgusted, at it.

I heard more screaming; familiar screaming. I knew what it meant.

"Remus, you can make a corporeal patronus right?" I asked quickly. He nodded. "We need to. Look," I pointed to several of the bodies. "I know the Dementors Kiss when I see it. These people, all of them, have experienced it." I saw a Dementor lowering it's hood near a frightened student, no older than a fourth year. She was trembling form head to toe.

I pushed myself away from Remus, pointed my wand toward the Dementor, focused with all of my might on when I was with my parents after being "killed" by Voldemort, and yelled,

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

A silver wolf burst out of my wand, much to my surprise, and ran toward the Dementor. It scurried away quickly, but I knew that one patronus wasn't enough to scare them all away.

"Remus, _please_, think of when you were accepted into Hogwarts! Or when you made friends, or those friends didn't ditch you! Or when you went on your first date, or had your first kiss – !"

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ A silver mist came out of his wand but vanished within seconds. _"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_ Luckily, a silver werewolf burst out and together we quickly drove all of the Dementors away. I watched them disappear into the distance, as did the two patonuses.

"Nicole," Remus said warningly. I turned to see him pointing toward the main road, where now unmasked Death Eaters were searching frantically for the sources of the patronuses while still firing random curses.

I pushed Remus up against the tall brick wall next to us and pushed my body against it as well.

"It's dark," I said. "The won't be able to see us unless it gets lighter." I was going to say more, but one of the unmasked Death Eaters caught my eye. His robes were tight on him, and he was a very big man with whiskers and pointed teeth.

I growled from the back of my throat, and Remus looked toward him. In the green light, I saw Remus narrow his eyes, confused.

"Greyback. He's a _werewolf_." I saw Remus pale and tense. "Now, I don't have anything against werewolves at all," I added quickly. "Not one thing. In fact, my Godfather is a werewolf. Greyback himself bit him." I paused and saw at least a little of Remus' tension drop. "But Greyback...he disgusts me. He attacks people _for fun_ and bit one of my friend's older brothers when it wasn't even the full moon. He's lethal."

"That _is_ disgusting," Remus said.

Suddenly, there was a _pop! _and all of the Death Eaters disappeared as one.

Slowly and cautiously, Remus and I walked toward the main street.

The damage was clearly visible now.

The ground was littered with at least ten bodies. Several weren't moving at all, but I saw most of their chests moving up and down slowly. Every building had at least some damage, ranging from broken windows to, like the post office, completely engulfed in flame.

My eyes met Remus' as several people came rushing out to the street, looking for friends and family, helping those on the ground.

I heard a scream of grief, and I had to turn away from the direction I heard it in. My eyes started to water but I blinked the tears away quickly. _No, no crying._

"No, Anna, please wake up! _NOOO!_" the voice cried. "ANNA, NO, WAKE UP! ANNA!"

I swallowed as Remus grabbed my wrist and pulled me further into the street.

The sky was still dark, and the only light was green. I noticed several people staring up at the five Dark Marks in the sky.

"Nicole! Remus!"

I turned to see Lily and James rushing toward us. His shoulder was bleeding and she had a cut on her lip, but other than that they seemed unhurt.

Lily threw her arms around Remus' neck, and James pulled me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes tightly as his arms wrapped around my waist and mine around his neck.

It seemed the four of us stayed like that for several minutes before we pulled away. Lily then hugged me as well, and James hugged Remus.

"Thank Merlin you are both alright," Lily said, pulling back.

There was another scream of grief, and I bit my bottom lip and saw James do the same. Tears flowed down Lily's face, and James grabbed her hand.

"Lily! James! Remus! Nicole!"

The four of us turned to see Frank, Alice, and Kingsley all rushing toward us. Alice had clearly been crying; her eyes were red and puffy.

"Oh thank Merlin!" Alice said. "I sure hope to Merlin that nobody was hurt to bad..." She clearly didn't notice that some of the people on the ground were dead while others had their souls taken away.

"Alice," I said softly, but was spared telling her by Lily spotting Regulus, Mary, and Sirius. They all seemed to be frantically searching the crowd and ground.

"Mary! Black!" she yelled. They all turned sharply and were by our side in a few seconds. Regulus pulled me into the tightest hug I had ever felt, and he whispered in my ear,

"Thank Merlin..." I smiled. He pulled back and kissed me gently, but only for a second before pulling back again. "What happened to you guys?" he said, noticing the rips in Remus and I's clothes and the cuts from the glass. Nobody seemed to notice I was limping, which was fine by me.

I motioned toward the burning building behind us. "_That's_ what happened to us. FiendFyre." Everybody stared at the burning building until another _pop! _jerked us back to our senses.

I jerked my head up.

We were surrounded by Death Eaters.


	8. Death Eaters and Suspicions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**A/N: So I'm not completely thrilled with this chapter. I'm not the best action writer. **

**But, no joke, today is my birthday! So you should review and make my day!  
**

Chapter 7

_We were surrounded by Death Eaters. Shit!_

Before we could move, the Death Eaters rose their wands as one. The closest one to me, whom I recognized as Antonin Dolohov, pointed his wand at me and brought it down in a slashing motion. I recognized the spell; Hermione had been hit with it in the Department of Mysteries in my third year.

A streak of purple flames flew toward me. I stood in shock and felt Regulus pulling me away, but it wasn't fast enough.

I managed to shoot an ugly glare at Dolohov, angry beyond comparison, hoping that maybe my anger would cause wandless magic and hurt him somehow, just before the curse hit my right shoulder.

Even though it hit my shoulder, it felt like a stab in the chest. I heard Regulus yelling my name as I was thrown backward against a wall. My head hit the wall hard, but I was unconscious before I hit the ground...

**A/N: POV changes here from Nicole to Regulus.**

You'd be surprised – or maybe not – at how many of the Death Eaters I recognized; the Carrows, Dolohov, Crabbe, Goyle, Gibbon, Greyback, Karkaroff, Lucius, Nott, Rookwood, and that's just a few.

They rose their wands as one, but only one, Dolohov, actually fired a curse. He brought his wand down in a swishing movement toward Nicole.

_No!_

Everything seemed to go in slow motion.

I saw Nicole's face shocked as she stared at him. I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward me and down. But I wasn't fast enough.

Emotions passed over Nicole's face so fast I could barely recognize them all; shock, confusion, recognition, annoyance, anger. Nearly everything – except fear.

Of course; no fear would be on her face.

I subconsciously yelled her name as she was thrown backward into a brick building. She was unconscious before she hit the ground. Blood streamed from the back of her head down her shoulders and formed a pool around her.

I was filled with fear and anger. I turned toward Dolohov; I wanted to curse him, to hurt him.

But, somehow, some unknown and invisible force had already thrown him backward. He flew through the air and landed with a _thump! _in the middle of the street, unmoving. Whether he was unconscious or dead, I couldn't care less.

To my surprise, the remaining Death Eaters still hadn't cursed us. There were at least twenty of them against the ten of us – excluding Nicole – they used Dark Magic and probably knew a whole lot more than us put together.

Lily and Remus were staring at Nicole in shock and obvious fear – not for themselves, but for her. Lily had tears rolling down her cheeks. James, Sirius, and Mary were all staring at Dolohov like they wanted no more than to kill him. Kingsley, Frank, and Alice all looked torn at what to think, although they looked afraid and angry at the same time.

Then, as one, the Death Eaters seemed to chant,

"_Crucio!"_ I saw James pull Lily and Alice down with him out of the corner of my eye. A spell missed Alice by an mere inch. The rest of us, who weren't so fast to react, were hit with the spells.

Excruciating pain tore through my limbs. I fell to the ground just before I lost all sense of what was happening. Time seemed to go on and on. All I heard were screams of myself and the other five – Remus, Sirius, Mary, Kingsley, and Frank.

"Stop! Stop!" I heard Lily cry.

Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. I came back to my senses slowly.

I was lying on my back, as were the other five. Lily was now bawling and Alice and James had tears falling quickly out of their eyes.

How had Nicole survived hours of that torture? A few minutes – maybe even seconds – had seemed like an eternity to me and all I had wanted was for it to end.

Sirius and Kingsley were the first to stand up, wobbling slightly on their legs, and Frank and I followed. Mary was crying as she stood up at the same time as Remus, who looked about ready to cry himself.

"What do you want?" Sirius yelled, his voice shaking slightly. A few Death Eaters shot some minor jinxes at us, but I blocked one as did Frank, Kingsley, and Mary.

None answered Sirius' question, and there was an eerie silence for a few moments, until...

"Hello children."

The high, cold voice sent a shiver down my back. It had come from behind me, and I turned slowly, raising my wand, to see a cloaked man standing on the building above Nicole.

Voldemort.

He didn't look as snake-like as the one in Nicole's memories had, but he still was quite ugly. He was pale white, skeletally thin. His long fingers were wrapped around his wand, which he held by his side. His eyes were already permanently red and had started to become slit. He still had a nose, but it was quite small, and the nostrils were thiner and longer than they should have been.

I heard several gasps from behind me.

Voldemort jumped from the building and landed almost gracefully only a few feet from Nicole.

Wait – Voldemort, graceful? How did that happen?

He noticed Nicole and walked toward her. He stopped so close his feet were almost in the pool of blood that had formed and was getting larger still.

"Now, now, who's work was this?"

"Dolohov's, my Lord," a small voice answered from behind me. I didn't turn to see who it was.

"That is just too bad. Poor girl. I pity her." His voice held no pity whatsoever. "Now where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself to our guests." He turned back to us, and eyed my wand.

"Put your wand down, Regulus. Fighting with the Dark Lord is not a smart move." How he knew me, I didn't know. I had never met him before, even if I had planned on joining him a while back.

"I had expected you to join me long before now, Regulus, where have you been?" When I didn't answer, he continued. "You haven't introduced me to our guests. This, obviously, is Sirius, correct?" He had turned his attention to Sirius, who was staring at him with the most hatred on his face that I had ever seen before. "Sirius, why haven't you upheld your family honor and joined me? You are a strong wizard, and very devoted, I could use more followers like you."

"I would never join you," Sirius spat out. Voldemort frowned, and raised his wand to Sirius slowly.

"_Crucio!_"

Sirius fell backwards as the spell hit him and his screams filled the quiet town. I had to remind myself that I couldn't help him and if I tried it would only get us deeper into this terrible situation. I closed my eyes and tried to block out the screaming, but I couldn't.

"Stop!" I yelled finally. I couldn't deal with it anymore, I had to end it. Even if I acted like I hated him sometimes, he was my brother and I really did love him.

He fell silent, though I could still hear his breathing, and turned to James.

"You're a Potter...James, if I'm correct?" James merely glared at him. "I never expected you to join me. Potter's are almost as blood-traitorous as Weasleys." I would've defended the Weasley's if it was anybody other than Voldemort. I'm such a coward.

Voldemort moved on to Frank.

"Frank Longbottom. Didn't expect you. Or you, Mary Macdonald. Remus Lupin...I might have expected you. But I guess you are a Gryffindor, despite your, ah, _condition_." Frank, Alice, and Lily looked at Remus confused. He pretended to be oblivious to their stares. "Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alice Prewett. Blood-traitor families, so I didn't expect you." He turned to the only person left, Lily. "And I don't believe I know you. Do enlighten us on your name." Lily didn't answer, so one of the Death Eaters spoke up.

"She is Lily Evans, my Lord. She's a Mudblood." Voldemort smiled coldly.

"Even if you wanted to join I wouldn't let you." He turned back to Nicole.

"Nicole Sawyer, my Lord," the same Death Eater spoke up.

I recognized his voice; Avery. Of course. I should've known from the first time I heard him speak.

"She grew up as a Muggle orphan, so her blood-status is unknown. She claims at least one of her parents was a wizard, but there is no proof." Voldemort stared down at Nicole for a few moments before looking back up at me.

"Regulus, I would've expected you to have a more...ambitious group of friends. How about I do you a favor and kill them all?" I opened my mouth as he turned his wand to the one closest to him besides myself – Mary.

Her eyes widened as Voldemort said the two fateful words and a green light shot out of his wand.

I quickly levitated a nearby bench in front of the spell. They collided in mid-air and the bench broke into flames before falling to the ground in a pile of ash.

"Now now, Regulus, I had expected better of you," he taunted. I kept my wand out in front of me as I pushed Mary behind me. She was still staring in shock and fear at Voldemort and didn't protest.

"Well you got your hopes up," I spat. Voldemort frowned and turned back to Nicole.

"There's something oddly familiar about this girl," he said. I frowned. "But I just don't know what. I've never seen her before; I don't forget a face, but she seems familiar..."

Suddenly, there was a _pop! _and Dumbledore appeared in front of me. He had his wand aloft and pointed at Voldemort, who spun on the spot and shot the Killing Curse at Dumbledore. Dumbledore conjured a large dog out of nowhere that took the curse for him and fell in a heap of ashes at his feet.

As the two engaged in a tough fight, the Death Eaters had engaged us in one.

James and Sirius had taken on six together, including Goyle and the Carrow siblings. James seemed to be fighting his way toward Dolohov. The rest of us were all taking on two a piece. I had been brought into a fight with Crabbe and Lucius, both of which seemed to want to hurt me, but I didn't want to hurt them.

Lucius shot the Imperious Curse toward me. I ducked it easily and then nonverbally conjured up some fire that I enveloped the two in.

They put it out, but while he was still putting it out, I hit Crabbe with a stunning spell. I turned back to Lucius, but he was suddenly hit from behind with another stunning spell that had missed it's intended target.

I joined Mary with her two hooded Death Eaters. While she had them distracted, I conjured up a flock of birds, which I shot toward the one who was too occupied with Mary to notice. While he was trying to fight off the birds, I shot an Impediment curse at him and he fell backward, unconscious.

"Gone soft, Reggie?" I heard Bellatrix taunt as I ducked an orange light headed toward me. Ah, so dear Bella _had_ joined and was the hooded Death Eater in front of me.

"Nope," I answered, shooting the Impediment curse at her. "Just learned where my true loyalties lie and what my priorities are." She growled and shot the Imperious Curse toward Mary, who ducked it.

I turned the birds that had attacked the other Death Eater, and shot them toward Bellatrix. She managed to somehow kill them all with a single cures. But with Mary and I fighting her, I knew she would be unable to walk away unscathed.

I saw Dumbledore shooting some fire at Voldemort out of the corner of my eye as I sent a stunning spell at Bellatrix right after Mary. She turned to block mine and was hit in the stomach with Mary's curse.

"Good one Mary!" I said as she moved on to help Kingsley and I moved on to help Remus, who was having slight difficulties with the two Death Eaters he was fighting – he stilled seemed shaken up.

I stunned one from behind, which was easy enough, but the next wasn't. He was Rookwood, and it was obvious he was a good dueler. I wondered how Remus had managed to stand up to Rookwood _and_ the other Death Eater.

Rookwood blocked a minor jinx sent by Remus and then another sent by me. He sent two jets of green light our way, but we both jumped out of the way at the last minute.

I heard yelling from somewhere behind us, but kept fighting Rookwood. I'll be damned if I let another Death Eater hurt another one of my friends when I could help hurt the Death Eaters instead.

Remus and I shot a stunning spell at him at the same time, and he sent a jet of green light at Remus. Remus didn't have time to move after sending his curse, so I quickly sent red sparks at him. They hit him before the green light, since I was much closer to him, and he was blasted to the side. The Killing Curse hit one of the Death Eaters who Sirius and James were fighting who had been about to curse Remus' back.

Remus got up quickly and sent another jinx at Rookwood. He rebounded it at Remus, who flattened himself against a wall to avoid being hit by it. Somehow, above the ruckus, I still could hear Voldemort's high, mirthless laugh as he fought Dumbledore.

"Why fight me, old man?" he asked cruelly. "You know one day I will dominate the whole Wizarding World. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. People are starting to fear even my name. Nobody can defeat me. So join me, old man – "

"You know as well as I do that that is never going to happen, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly. "You will never dominate the world, and I will never join you."

Voldemort grew furious and shot several nasty jinxes at Dumbledore.

I heard a yell and turned my attention back to our fight with Rookwood.

But the fight was over, because several Aurors had showed up and surrounded him. Voldemort and the Death Eaters stopped on the spot, and then disappeared with several _pop!_s. Voldemort had grabbed Bellatrix and Lucius' unconscious bodies before he disappeared.

I swayed on the spot and felt nauseous. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to stay standing.

Alice had been hit with a stunning spell and had what looked like a broken wrist, Sirius' nose was bleeding, Kingsley had been hit with a minor jinx on the leg and was holding it with a painful look on his face, but everybody else seemed to only have small cuts and bruises and shaken up quite a bit.

I ran over to Nicole, who was quite close to me. I sat on my knees next to her, not caring that I was kneeling in a pile of blood, and heard more footsteps rushing up behind me.

Lily knelt down on Nicole's other side. Tears were still streaming down her face, or maybe they were again. I couldn't tell. But I realized that I was crying, too – or maybe I had been before and that's why Bellatrix asked me if I had gone soft.

"Is she d-d-dead?" Lily sniffed as James knelt beside her, staring at Nicole in disbelief.

I shook my head.

"No. She's breathing," I answered quietly. "But she's barely alive."

"She needs to be taken up to the castle," Dumbledore said from somewhere to my left. "Quickly, too." I couldn't move. I needed to take her up to the castle, but I couldn't.

James must have noticed my hesitation because he put one of his arms behind her back and the other under her knees and lifted her effortlessly. Sirius came forward to help but James shook his head. He muttered something and nodded toward me. Sirius came toward me as Dumbledore said,

"You should all go back to the castle. The other students are all back already. Go straight to the Hospital Wing."

I shrugged Sirius off as he tried to help me up, and I watched Lily follow James and Nicole up to the castle. I followed Remus, who was helping Kingsley limp toward the castle, and Lily and Mary, who were helping Alice. Sirius brought up the rear.

The trek up to the castle and then to the Hospital went by in a blur for me.

Before I knew it, everyone had been fixed up, except Nicole, and we all stood around Nicole's bed. She had a broken ankle, a cracked skull, had lost almost enough blood to kill her, and serious internal injury caused by the curse Dolohov had put on her. Somehow, even though she had been hit in the shoulder, it had mostly injured her in the chest and stomach.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were standing at the foot of the bed, out of Madam Pomfrey's way. Lily was crying into James' chest, and James and Remus had a few silent tears. Kingsley and Mary were near the foot of the bed on the left side while Frank and Alice were on the right. The two girls had silent tears falling down their cheeks. I was sitting in a chair near her head. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her hair was still stained with blood, her ankle stuck out at an odd angle, her robes ripped in several places.

Madam Pomfrey leaned over her and said,

"I'm afraid she will probably have to be sent to St. Mungo's, Professor." I tore my eyes away from her fragile form for the first time to see Dumbledore standing between Sirius and Remus at the foot of the bed.

"Are you sure, Poppy?" Madam Pomfrey looked down at Nicole.

"It's the worst injury I've ever seen here. I can heal her ankle and skull and give her a Blood Replenishing Potion for the blood loss, but I've never healed anything nearly as bad as the internal injury caused by that curse."

"Could you at least attempt? I don't want to have to send a student to St. Mungo's. Looks bad on my part." I figured he had another reason behind asking Madam Pomfrey to heal Nicole here, but didn't ask.

"I can try, but the chances that I will succeed are slim to none." Dumbledore nodded curtly and Madam Pomfrey said sharply, "Out! All of you!" The others all made to leave except James and I. Dumbledore turned to us, a sympathetic look on his face.

"You both want Nicole to live, right?" We both nodded. "Then you must leave. Any distractions could keep her from saving her life." I sighed and stood up slowly. I took one last look at Nicole before I left the room quickly.

* * *

We sat up silently in the Room of Requirement. Dumbledore had told us he would send an owl when they knew if Nicole was going to be fine here or be sent to St. Mungo's, and so far we hadn't gotten an owl. There was a large window overlooking the grounds in the room, and we all kept glancing at it over and over. We were going to tell the others what had happened to us in Hogsmeade, but had decided it was best if we didn't talk about it until we knew if Nicole was going to be okay or not.

James stood up around midnight, when only four of us were left awake – James, Sirius, Remus and I, and I was nearly asleep – and said, "I'll be right back," before rushing out of the room.

"What was that about?" Remus asked Sirius.

"I don't know..." Sirius said thoughtfully. I heard the rustling of papers and heard Sirius say, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ah, the map. They have must assumed I was asleep because they would never get that out in front of me.

There was a pause, and a gasp.

"Remus! _Remus!_ Look at this!" If he didn't have to be quiet for fear of waking me up, then Sirius would probably have yelled.

"W-W-What?" Remus asked sleepily, yawning.

"I found him! He's in the hospital wing, with Nicole!" Oh, shit – the map never lies. "Keep this in mind, Remus – _the map never lies_. Nicole – her last name is _Potter_!" Dammit.

I heard Remus get up and walk over toward Sirius to see the map, and then he gasped and sat down.

"That's..._odd_," he said thoughtfully.

"What is?"

"Well, put all that we know about Nicole together. She said that she thought her father was a pureblood and her mother a Muggle-born, although she wasn't sure. _James_ is a pureblood." Oh no, did Remus know?

"So?"

"_So_ she told me when she saw Greyback that her Godfather was a werewolf." Oh, Nicole, what were you thinking, telling him that? "Apparently, her Godfather was one of her dad's best friends. They were a gang of four. One was her brother's Godfather, who she says was her father's best friend, and the other she always describes as a _rat_. She also said the three became illegal Animagi for her Godfather and that they were pranksters."

"Where are you going with this, Remy?" Remus sighed.

"That – is – exactly – like – us. And to add to the fact that her last name shows up _Potter _on the map. Her brother's Godfather was her dad's best friend – you are James' best friend. They were a gang of four – we are a gang of four. Her Godfather is a werewolf _and_ was bit by Greyback – those both hold true with me. The other was a rat, like Peter, and they were all illegal Animagi for her Godfather – don't you get it?"

"Are you trying to say that you think Nicole is James' daughter? Because _really_, she's only a year younger than him," Sirius pointed out. He sounded almost bored.

Remus paused for a moment to think, before saying slowly, "I don't know how that works, but – "

"Remus, you're half asleep, you're afraid for your friend's _life_, I'm guessing you're just making things that you don't really think are true up. Sure, they all fit, but there are definitely more things that don't fit. She's sixteen while he is seventeen, she doesn't look anything like him except her eye color, James is a _virgin_," I didn't need to know that, "and overall it's just impossible."

Remus sighed. "I guess you're r-r-right," he said, yawning. I heard a _thump! _and Sirius said,

"Now go to sleep." After what felt like a few minutes, I heard Remus' breathing slow and Sirius muttered,

"_Nicole Potter..._maybe Remus was right." He paused and sighed.

"Mischief Managed."

**A/N: So what'd you think? Good? Bad? Review and let me know! It'd be the best birthday gift ever, and it's free! And if you have any ideas for this story, I'm open to taking them. Thanks for reading! **


	9. Guilty Conscience

**A/N: Thanks for all reviews, alerts and favorites!**

**Oh yeah, and it's still Regulus' POV.**

Chapter 8

I woke up thinking it was all just a dream. That today was Halloween and not November first, that Nicole was sleeping next to me, safe and sound.

I moved my hand, looking for Nicole's hand so I could hold it to be sure she wasn't hurt, but all I felt was the soft couch. I sat up quickly and looked around the room.

When I saw that Nicole wasn't there, I felt sick. My stomach churned, and I started to gag. I ran to the door on the other side of the room that led to the bathroom and, once there, gripped the sides of the toilet, and retched into it.

I heard the door open but couldn't look to see who it was. I felt a hand grip one of my shoulders and a slender arm go around my waist to support me.

Finally, I collapsed against the body behind me. I still didn't know who it was, but I could tell they were at least a few inches taller than me, with a flat chest and slim body, and knew it had to be a guy. Their arms were around my waist and I leaned my back into their chest, not caring who it was or what they thought of me right now.

My face was buried in my hands, and I started to cry. I hadn't cried since I was five, and hadn't intended to ever again.

After a few minutes, the crying slowed down. I moved my hands away from my face and saw a long leg on either side of me, the one on the left bent up and right straight.

I turned my head slowly, cheeks turning pink, to see who it was.

My eyes met with familiar stormy gray eyes – Sirius.

To my surprise, his cheeks were stained with tear-lines and he was staring at the wall opposite us. When he felt me move, he looked down at me and his eyes met mine. I looked away quickly, embarrassed, and used the heel of my hand to wipe the tears off of my face.

We were silent for a moment.

"She's going to be okay," Sirius whispered, more to himself than to me, I think. "I know she will, Reg. She's a fighter." I nodded slowly but didn't say anything for a moment.

"It – It's all my fault," I said finally, more tears falling down my face. Sirius frowned at me and looked like he wanted to slap me – if he did, he refrained from doing so.

"Did you send that curse at her?" I shook my head, slightly confused, wiping my face with my hand. "Did you tell Dolohov to?" I shook my head again. "Then why would you _ever_ say it was your fault? Reg, if I _ever_ hear you say that again I will smack you. "

I looked down at my hands.

"I should've done something. Blocked the spell, or taken it for her. Or at least pulled her away before it could hit her..."

"Regulus, listen to me, I don't know what is going on in your mind," Sirius said softly. "There was nothing you could've done. If you blocked it, or somehow saved her from it, who knows she wouldn't have been hit by a different, worse spell?"

I stared at my hands, wringing them together. Well, that made sense, but I still thought it was my fault and couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Yeah, you're right, I guess." I truly still thought it was my fault, though.

"I know you still think that it's your fault, but at least you're considering the fact that it isn't." I didn't respond, and after a moment I heard the sound of light tapping in the distance. Sirius' eyes met mine, and both of us furrowed our eyebrows, confused.

We walked back into the main room, where everybody else was still sleeping. The sun had started to rise in the distance and the sky was streaked with lines of various reds, oranges, purples, and blues. I guessed it was around three in the morning.

Tapping it's beak against the large window on the other side of the room was a large, tawny owl with long claws clamped around a roll of parchment.

Sirius helped me pry the piece of parchment off of it and I unrolled it slowly.

In green, loopy writing, it said,

_Mr. Black – _

_Madam Pomfrey managed to save Miss Sawyer earlier today. She was awake early this morning, but recently fell back asleep with a Dreamless Sleep Potion and could very possibly be out most or all day, but you are welcome to visit her, but not until after six o'clock this morning._

_Prof. Dumbledore_

I breathed a sigh of relief – Nicole was going to be okay. She was going to live, and didn't need to be sent to St. Mungo's.

* * *

At eight in the morning, everyone else headed down to breakfast. I slipped away when we were near the hospital wing and walked quickly toward it.

Only one bed was occupied, which surprised me greatly considering the Death Eater attack on Hogsmeade.

The curtains were drawn and besides Nicole, the room was unoccupied. I pulled the curtains back slightly, peeked inside to make sure she was alone, and, when I saw she was, entered slowly.

She was sleeping peacefully on her side, curled up with her knees up near her chest. One of her arms rested over her side with her hand on her stomach, the other straight out from her side, her hand out, fingers curled slightly.

I sat down, slowly and quietly, in the chair beside her. I couldn't help but snake my hand into her outstretched one, intertwining my fingers with hers. Call me crazy, but I thought I felt and saw her fingers twitch and a small, peaceful smile appear on her lips.

I couldn't help but smile, my heart beating furiously in my chest, my breath taken away by how beautiful she could be even if she had recently been nearly killed. Her bangs clung to her forehead and her long, blood-stained hair spread out on the pillow behind her. She still had blood and dirt stains on her face and arms. She had a cut on her upper lip, rips in her robes, the largest that I could see on her left shoulder.

I realized that it was a good thing it was a Sunday, because there was no way I was leaving her side until she woke up.

* * *

**(A/N: Back to Nicole's POV.)**

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking the sleep out of them. I was sore, even with the millions of potions Poppy (yep, I call her Poppy) had put me on that morning – okay, it was only about six, but still, that's quite a few.

The lighting in the hospital wing was dim, but not as dark as it would be were it late night. I assumed it was evening and that dinner would be going on in the Great Hall right now.

But even with dinner at the moment, there was still somebody sitting in a chair next to me with their hand in mine. And I knew exactly who, even if I couldn't see him.

"Regulus," I said quietly. Regulus jerked up suddenly, and his gray eyes met mine. A soft smile appeared on his lips as he leaned toward me and ran the fingers of his free hand through my hair.

"Hey babe," he said softly. I smiled and sighed slightly, closing my eyes briefly. "How are you feeling?" I shrugged and opened my eyes again.

"I've felt better – granted, I've also felt worse."

"Do you know how worried I was? How worried _everybody_ was?" he asked. I frowned.

"Well, I was told I was almost sent to St. Mungo's..."

"You had me crying," he said quietly, looking down at our interlocked hands. I frowned even more. "I haven't cried since I was five." I opened my mouth to say something, but he went on before I could. "I'm so sorry."

"_You're_ sorry? What are you sorry for?" He was certainly confusing me, and I hated being confused.

"I – I should've saved you – "

"How could you have saved me?" I asked, understanding now, but getting slightly angry at him. He was blaming himself and I knew it.

I sat up quickly, my back against the headboard, and gripped Regulus' hand harder."You couldn't have done anything! It was Dark Magic, there was no blocking it!"

"I shouldn't have frozen up when put in that situation – "

"Even _I_ froze up," I said. "Not to sound full of myself or whatever, but I've _never_ frozen up in a position like that. And I've been in too many situations like that to count, so I should have known what to do. If anything it was my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"How is it yours?" I asked, frustrated. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as I pulled my hand out of his. "Reg, I'm sorry, but I – I can't stand people who blame themselves for things that aren't their fault at all. You're acting like Harry – no, you're being _worse _than Harry. I can see why he would blame himself for all of those deaths, even if they weren't his fault, but you – I can't even see why the _hell_ you would blame yourself for that!"

Regulus seemed shocked, but opened his mouth to respond when Poppy pulled the curtains back and glared at Regulus.

"If you are going to get into an argument with my patient, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Black."

"Yes, _Black_," I said venomously. "Leave, please, won't you?" Regulus glared at me, and then sighed.

"Listen, _Nicole_, I'm sorry. I know it isn't my fault, but – " I saw Poppy turn around and leave, closing the curtains behind her, as Regulus continued, " – but I can't help but feel slightly guilty. If you want me to leave, I'l leave." I sighed, and looked down.

"I'm sorry, too. You can stay. It just makes me think of Harry when you blame yourself for things that aren't true..." It went without saying that thinking of Harry made me homesick.

Regulus took my hand in his again and squeezed it gently.

"Remus thinks something is up," he said, clearly trying to change the subject. I looked up at him, surprised. "He and Sirius saw your name on the map, and he somehow put the pieces together. What were you thinking, telling him that your Godfather was a werewolf?" I looked down sheepishly. "_But_," he continued, "luckily for us, Sirius told him he was going crazy and was thinking about it too much and they were just coincidences."

"Remus must be smarter than I thought," I said, voicing my exact thoughts. "And thank God for Sirius, huh?" Regulus laughed gently.

"You should have seen how upset Lily, James, Remus, and even Sirius were when Madam Pomfrey said she didn't know if you would survive. None of them knew why they were that upset about it, I mean you're their friend, but you guys aren't _that _close."

"What happened to you and everybody else? Before we met up, that is?" I asked him.

"Well we haven't said anything about it to each other yet," he replied. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Once we were healed, we went straight to the Room or Requirement and went to bed. Although," he added, raising his eyebrows, "James was here late last night, just sitting here – so it seemed."

I frowned; I had thought I heard somebody talking to me late last night, just before I woke up.

When I told Regulus this, he narrowed his eyes.

"Really? What did he say?"

"I couldn't tell, and if I could I don't remember." Ugh, why couldn't I remember? I wanted to know what James was saying so bad, but I couldn't remember – or maybe I just couldn't tell. Either way, it drove me crazy.

"Is anybody else from the school hurt?" I asked after a moment.

"Nothing as bad as yours," Regulus answered. "I think the worst was a few broken bones and some shock."

"What happened after I was out?" I asked quietly. Regulus squeezed my hand gently.

"Well...Somehow Dolohov got knocked unconcious – "

"My wandless magic," I said suddenly. "I can sometimes control it if my emotions are high enough."

"Impressive," Regulus admired. "Then the Cruiciatus Curse was used on us all on us all, besides James, Lily, and Alice – " I jerked my head up quickly. " – and then Voldemort showed up." I gasped.

"How did everybody survive?"

"Dumbledore showed up." Ah, so that's how. "We all engaged in a fight with at least two Death Eaters a piece, but when the Aurors showed up, they all left. Lucius was there." He added the last part with venom in his voice. "What happened to you and Remus before we met up?"

"Well," I said slowly. "We went to the bookshop first. We heard the first shots and were in shock before we ran to the front. The windows shattered over us," I pointed to the cuts in my shoulders, lips, eyebrows, and arms. "When we saw the Death Eaters, I drug Remus into the post office." Regulus' mouth dropped.

"The post office? But that was demolished by FiendFyre and there was a Dark Mark above it..."

"I quickly wrote a letter to Dumbledore, sent it off, and then the FiendFyre came in. There was nobody else in there, so I assumed afterward when I saw the Dark Mark that they saw us go in and thought they had killed us.

"We were trapped, so we had to jump out of a third floor window. That's how I twisted, or broke, or whatever I did to my ankle, that's how I did it. Then we sent off the Dementors with our Patronuses and stayed in the alley until the Death Eaters disappeared." I paused. "What happened to you?"

"Well we were in the streets when they showed up, but they didn't do anything to us because I'm pretty sure Avery, Mulciber, and Snape have joined Voldemort already," he said. "Then we hid in an empty alleyway until they disappeared." He shrugged. "Nothing really compared to you guys. But a Dementor did almost suck out Wilkes' soul."

"Darn, too bad Remus and I scared them away. But he doesn't seem to have a soul anyway, so he probably wouldn't have been much different." Regulus laughed slightly.

The curtains were pushed aside again and Poppy entered. She handed me a small vial of a thin green potion and said,

"Drink it quickly while it's still warm." I brought it up to my mouth, smelt it, and plugged my nose when it smelt disgusting before chugging it down before I could taste it.

I handed the now smoking vial back to Poppy, who took it and asked if I was hungry. I shook my head and she left quickly, telling me, once again, to call her if I needed anything.

I rolled my eyes and heard the hospital doors open. The curtains were pulled back and Sirius, his arms full of sweets from Honeydukes, enetered, followed by James, with his arm wrapped around Lily's shoulders, and Remus brought up the rear.

"Hey Nicole!" Sirius said happily, dumping the sweets on the foot of the bed. I rose my eyebrows at him and he ignored me. "Good to see you back in the world." I rolled my eyes, as did Lily.

"How are you feeling, Nicole?" she asked, pushing the sweets aside and sitting down on the bed, followed by James.

I shrugged. "Never better," I said. Lily arched an eyebrow at me, clearly not believeing me. I smiled. "I've been worse." Lily still didn't seem to believe me, but Remus looked stunned.

"You've been worse than this? Are you serious?" I shook my head, hiding my smile.

"No, I'm not." I pointed at Sirius. "He is. But thanks for asking." Remus, James, and Lily groaned, and Sirius high-fived me.

"Not another one. You know what I meant." I smiled.

"Fine, I _was_ being serious – _don't_ say it, Sirius." He frowned – he had opened his mourh to say something, but I had stopped him, not by my words, but by a stern look. "I've been in worse fixes before. Believe me." Lily still had a disbelieving look on her face, but Remus looked worried.

"Really?" he asked, shocked. "Worse than _this_? What's worse than this?" I saw him glance toward Sirius, who was staring at him, shaking his head almost imperceptably for anybody without good eyes like myself.

I opened my mouth, but my voice failed me for a moment.

"Well, I don't know if it _was _worse than this, but it _felt_ worse. More painful, more like I was going to die any minute, unlike now. I'm only a little sore now." Remus looked pointedly away from Sirius, who looked at him and frowned.

The door opened, sparing me from any questions, and Mary and Kingsley walked in.

"No more than six visitors at a time!" Poppy said, sternly. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"We were just leaving." He followed James and Lily out, with Remus following uncertainly behind. I wanted to know what they were thinking, especially Remus, so badly, but knew it would be next to impossible to get out of here without Poppy noticing.

Kingsley and Mary stared at the pile of sweets by my feet.

"That's a lot of sweets," Mary commented, eyeing them. I laughed.

"Go ahead. I know you want to. Have some. Take them all if you want." Her eyes lit up as she grabbed a Chocoloate Frog.

"Guys," I started. "We have to do a really good job at keeping our act up and acting like nothing strange is up."

"Why?" Mary asked.

"Regulus heard Remus telling Sirius he was suspicious of – something," I said, careful not to tell them that Remus actully thought I was James and Lily's daughter. "We have to give him no reason to be."

**A/N: So I couldn't find out where to end it, so I just did there. **

**Love it? Hate it? Review it? Please? I'll love you forever! And you can even tell me where you would be going with this story if you were the author if you want; a little inspiration never hurt!  
**


	10. The Truth

**Disclaimer: Only things you do not recognize are mine. Everything else belongs to JKR.**

Chapter 9

I was stuck in the hospital wing for the next week, taking what felt like a hundred potions a day.

Regulus brought my homework by after classes every day. He rarely left my side – only to go to classes and to sleep. He even ate in the hospital with me, despite my insistences that he go eat in the Great Hall. I know he still felt guilty.

James had convinced Madam Hootch to have Hufflepuff play Ravenclaw instead of us for the first Quidditch match since I would still be stuck in the hospital. So our first game would be three weeks later against Slytherin. Oh, joy, my first game against my boyfriend. At least he was Seeker and I was Chaser so we didn't have to go face-to-face.

Kingsley and Mary had been trying to emphasize on things that I had told them that were huge lies to Remus, as was Regulus. I had reverted from stretching the truth when Remus was around to outright lying, no matter how bad about it I felt. I had so far told him that my mother was okay at flying, but was terrible at Quidditch, and that my father was terrible at both. I had also told him that my father's Animagus form was a wolf, which was where my Patronus came from, and that my dad wasn't the best at magic ("In fact he was almost a squib, my grandparents were sure he was for the longest time.") and that my mother was average at it.

Every time I said a complete lie like those, Remus seemed shocked and Sirius smirked at him. A few times one of us had even heard him say, "I told you so."

"I thought you didn't know very much about your parents?" Remus pointed out as we sat in the Common Room the night after I had been released. Regulus had had a lot of homework to do – I had already finished mine – so he had skipped (okay, so he had _walked_) off to the Slytherin Common Room where he couldn't be pranked by Sirius or James.

"I don't know much. Just a few random facts that my Godfather told me or let slip, or that I read somewhere or something. Like my father was actually born in America and lived there until he was eleven, when his parents moved here so he could attend Hogwarts because they were so glad that he had enough magic to attend. He was in Gryffindor, as was my mom." Okay, so I couldn't just put James and Lily in different houses. Some things had to remain the same.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Kingsley, who was sitting near enough to hear us, grab a piece of parchment and scribble something quickly onto it. He had been keeping tabs of each lie one of us told, had made four copies, added to them each daily, and made Regulus, Mary and I study them a bit each night so that we wouldn't accidentally tell them something that contradicted what somebody else had told them.

"But my dad once told my Godfather he had to fight with the hat to put him here and not Hufflepuff." Remus narrowed his eyes.

"You know all of this, but not your parents' names?" I shrugged.

"I could never force my Godfather to tell me. It makes me think that maybe they were Dark Wizards or something, although I don't think they had it in them. Or maybe something happened to them where if I knew their name I'd find out something about them." Well that much was true; if I knew their names, at least in my past life, I would have found out some things about them.

Remus clearly was skeptical and suspicious, but I turned to Lily and started conversing about Divination and what a worthless subject it was, leaving Remus confused.

Our first match against Slytherin, we won 210 – 70, which put us first in the running for the Quidditch Cup already.

Christmas break was readily approaching in only one week. Regulus and I had been the first two to sign up to stay at Hogwarts, followed almost immediately by Sirius.

"Need to escape the family," he muttered as I pushed past him to get to class. Well I already knew _that_.

That Saturday was the last Hogsmeade trip before Christmas Break. I had overheard – okay, okay, I had _eavesdropped_ – Dumbledore and McGonagall considering not allowing anymore Hogsmeade trips for the rest of the year because of the incident during the last one. But I guess, in the end, they decided to allow us to go.

The next exciting thing that happened – besides the usual pranks and fights with Slytherins – happened the last Hogsmeade trip of the year.

Regulus and I had arranged to stay with Sirius at his house in Whales that summer – the summer of 978. James and Lily had started to get really serious, and everybody still seemed shocked that she had said yes to him finally. It was a daily occurrence to see Snape sulking in a corner. I knew exaclty why.

Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, and Peter had either already joined or planned on joining the Order. It bothered the four of us who knew about Peter's betrayal that he was joining, but couldn't do anything about it.

For weeks, months maybe, Regulus had been trying to get me to tell Dumbledore. Kingsley and Mary had also joined him a few days previously, but I still wasn't ready to tell anybody else yet.

On the day of the next Hogsmeade trip, the last one of the year, Regulus and I went alone. We had stopped for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.

While he was paying for our drinks, I noticed Dumbledore leading about four people upstairs, obviously trying to do so without anybody noticing him. I told Regulus I was using the spare loo, which was upstairs, because the other one was full and I needed to go – in reality, I did need to .com/9.10/

Once upstairs, I saw a door on the right hand side of the long hallway slightly ajar. I stood behind it quietly, close enough so I could hear but far enough away so I couldn't be seen unless they came out into the hallway, at which point I could just tell them I was using the loo.

"She made a prophecy? A _real_ prophecy?" I heard the unmistakable voice of McGonagall ask._ Who made a prophecy? _I couldn't help but think.

"Quite right, Minerva," Dumbledore replied. "It was quite interesting. About the downfall of Voldemort."

"Well? What did it say, Albus?" a voice I didn't recognize said.

"Patience, Dorcas, patience." Dorcas...I knew the name from somewhere...Dorcas...Dorcas...Dorcas Meadows! I suddenly remembered her being in the group photo Moody showed Harry and I. I remembered she was so important in the fight against Voldemort that he had killed her personally.

There was a slight rustle, and then I heard what I knew had to be Trelawney saying,.com/9.10/

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord has arrived...Coming from a time and place none know...Sister of he who had vanquished the Dark Lord before...Still a child, daughter of children themselves...The Dark Lord will trust her above all others, but she has defied him many times, and will many more...If she is not the downfall of him, he will never fall...the one...with the power...to vanquish...the Dark Lord...has arrived..._"

I gasped, and had to cover my mouth to keep from being heard.

_Me_? It had to be; I came from a time and place nobody knew, I was the sister of the person who had killed Voldemort before – who else would _that_ be anyway? – and I was still a child, as were my parents. But I would become trusted above all others by Voldemort? I didn't even want to think of why or how.

Oh, how confused Dumbledore must be right now. Even I was .com/9.10/

"What does it mean, Albus?" a voice I recognized as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody said quietly.

"It means, Alastor, either that somebody close to Voldemort is a traitor, a witch by the sound of it, or something we can't comprehend is going on here."

"But it doesn't make any sense!" another girl's voice said quietly.

"Marlene," O_h, Marlene McKinnon. _"We know it doesn't make sense, which is why we must all keep an eye out for anything unusual..."

Dumbledore continued to talk, but I wasn't listening. I had heard enough, and was about to walk back downstairs when I stepped on a loud, creaky floorboard.

The door flung open suddenly and I jumped about a foot into the air. I backed against the wall .com/9.10/cross from the door as someone whom I could not see grabbed the collar of my robes and drug me into the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

I turned to see Mad-Eye – except, it wasn't Mad-Eye. He had his full nose and both legs. He did have several battle scars, but not nearly as many as he would eventually have, at least in my time, and already had the fake eye, but less gray hair.

"This little _sneak_ was listening," he spat toward Dumbledore. I was sure my eyes were wide and the same look of shock was on my face as his, until anger took over his.

I had never seen Dumbledore angry. It was quite – okay, it was _very_ frightening. I knew you could see my fear in my eyes as he stood over me and tried to remain calm.

"Miss Sawyer," he said. If it was meant to be polite it wasn't at all. "What are you doing upstairs?"

"I-I was g-g-going to u-use the spare b-bathroom," I said, unable to control my stuttering.

"No, she wasn't, she's obviously a spy," Moody said. I turned to him, no longer shocked but angry. Who was he to call me a spy? What if I really wasn't? He had practically just told me that they were discussing something important. I was still slightly scared, and when Moody shot me the dirtiest looks, I turned back to Dumbledore.

"You can ask Regulus. He's downstairs. I was just going to use the loo," I said quickly, but it was obvious Dumbledore didn't believe me. How could he not, I was a pretty good liar!

"How much did you hear?"

"I was – What?"

"You heard me."

"Albus!" McGonagall said, exasperated. She quickly walked across the room and stood between me and Dumbledore. "Can't you tell she's frightened? Why don't you just see what she's overheard and then wipe it from her memory?"

"But I didn't hear anything!" I said quickly. Dumbledore and Moody glared at me and Dumbledore asked,

"Would you say the same thing under Veritaserum?" I opened my mouth, and then closed it quickly at the look on his face, unable to lie to him. I looked down at my shoes. "So you did overhear? I guess I'll use Legilimency to see how much you overheard and then erase that from your memory." No, I wasn't ready to tell anybody besides Regulus and Kingsley and Mary the whole story. Plus, I had private memories.

"What? No! I have private memories you know!"

"Like what? Being a Death Eater?" Moody spat.

"I'm _NOT_ a Death Eater!" But before I could continue, Dumbledore had pointed his wand around McGonagall and at me and said,

"_Legilimens_!"

Since I knew Occlumency, I could have easily pushed him out of my mind before he saw anything, but decided that this was as good as any way to tell Dumbledore, even if I wasn't quite ready.

The room swam in front of me and vanished, and old memories were swarming in front of me. Some flashed by quickly, others stayed longer...

I was three, and was walking alongside a full-grown Remus in Diagon Alley as he showed me all of the stores I had waited forever to see...I was in the Three Broomsticks with Harry as I we overheard what everybody thought was the whole story behind Sirius' imprisonment...I stared as blood dripped down my arm in the bathroom after a particularly long detention with Umbridge...I glanced one last time as the fire in the post office advanced on me before pushing myself off...

I was suddenly back in the room. I had fallen into my knees and I realized that I had tears streaming down my face. Dumbledore stood in front of me, shocked, his expression much softer than before, but also much more confused.

"Well?" Moody asked after a moment of silence. "She is a Death Eater, isn't she? And she's only sixteen, too!" I laughed, but there was no amusement in my voice.

"I'm only fifteen," I corrected, since I had been told I wasn't going to age. "And how –- many times –- do I have –- to tell you? _I am _NOT_ a Death Eater_! I would rather die than join Voldemort. He killed my parents..." I added the last part quietly.

"Alastor, no, she is no a Death Eater, nor is she one in disguise. After seeing what I just saw, she is one of the last people I .com/9.10/ould expect to be in league with Voldemort." Moody looked completely shocked. "Miss Sawyer," Dumbledore said softly. "I'm afraid to say that didn't clear things up. If anything, it made them more confusing." I nodded – obviously, I knew that.

"What is going on, Albus?" McGonagall asked uncertainly.

"Well, Minverva, it seems Miss Sawyer isn't who we thought she was. And am I correct in assuming," he turned back to me, "that the prophecy meant you?" I slowly nod. McGonagall and the two other women in the room whom I had assumed were Dorcas Meadows and Marlene McKinnon gasped, and Moody looked more confused than ever.

"You mean – but she's just a child!" McGonagall said.

"And didn't the prophecy say so?"

"But how are her parents still children too?" the woman's whose voice I recognized as Dorcas Meadows asked. "And 'sister of he who had vanquished the Dark Lord before'? 'Coming from a time and place none know'?And if Voldemort trusts her above all, she must be a Death Eater!"

"It says the Dark Lord _will_ trust her above all," Dumbledore pointed out. "And as for the others, well, it is hard to explain, so I will be blunt...it seems we have, in our midst, a time traveler." There was a stunned silence.

"_Impossible_."

"Preposterous."

"Lunatic."

"Why would you _ever _believe such a thing?"

"Because it is the only explanation to what I just saw," Dumbledore said slowly. "You can plant false memories, but none _that_ clear." He turned back to me. "Miss Sawyer, do you mind if I have one more go at it?" I shook my head and stood back up.

"Any memories that are _too_ personal, I will push you out." He nodded and said,

"_Legilimens_!"

I was seven, and was watching from a bit away as my adoptive parents played with their five kids...I was nine, and watched as tons of owls flew to the Dursley's house across the street from mine...I stood in the stands, nearly screaming as I saw Harry's limp body falling from his broom...I was thirteen, and Fred's face was getting closer and closer to mine...I sat, my eyes dry, staring at Dumbledore's limp body in the white coffin...

I was back in the room again, and Dumbledore was staring at me wide-eyed. I looked down at my feet and wanted more than anything to sink into the wall I was standing against and disappear. I should've known from the start this was a bad idea and that I couldn't handle it.

"Miss Sawyer, I must ask you to explain...everything." I paused, and then asked quietly,

"Can I go get Regulus? I told him I would be right back..."

"Don't bring him up here or he'll know."

"He already does. I've told him." Dumbledore frowned.

"Who else have you told?"

"Kingsley and Mary, but they figured it out mostly on their own. At least the part that I'm from the future." Dumbledore nods, and I quickly run downstairs to see Regulus about ready to come up and get me. I told him quickly about what had happened and then lead him back to the room.

I glanced around it for the first time. It had wooden floors, walls, and ceiling and was empty apart from a desk on the other side by some windows with a Pensive on it.

"Hello Mr Black," Dumbledore greeted. "Miss Sawyer, I was going to inform these three of your memories I had seen but I thought it would be much easier to have you put any memories you find important in the Pensive for us to watch." I leaned over the Pensive, and asked,

"Do you want to watch them one-by-one, or all at once? Or I could group certain memories together in the way that they make sense."

"Whatever sounds good to you."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on two simple memories; hearing Harry and Voldemort's story from Remus for the hundredth time, and when I learned Harry was my brother.

"These are just two memories, but you have to watch them before you can understand what is going on." Dumbledore nodded and led us all into the Pensive.

I landed in a crowded Diagon Alley. I saw Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall, Dorcas and Marlene a little way off and Regulus right behind me.

I saw Remus' head above a group of teenagers and quickly followed him. I knew Dumbledore and the others were following me toward Remus and a small blonde head I knew was a four year old me.

"Tell me the story!" I heard myself chime.

"What story?" Remus asked, looking down at me. He was holding my hand and ushering me toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"_The_ story!" I pipped. "The one with 'arry Poder and Voldy–mort!" Remus chuckled and asked,

"Again?" I nodded vigorously, my ponytail bobbing up and down with my head. "Alright."

Remus opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron and took a small table for two before he started telling the story.

And so the six of us listened. The three women gasped when they learned Lily and James were murdered but that their son had survived, but Voldemort almost didn't.

"I know 'arry Poder!" mini-me said when he finished. I hadn't meant to put this part in here but decided that it wasn't a big deal.

Remus rose his eyebrows down at me. "Do you?"

"Yes! He lives across the street from me, with the Dursleys! He doesn't know that he's a wizard, I can tell."

"Don't you go telling him," Remus said, a warning tone in his voice.

"I've kept it from Maria, Ella, Josh, Ali, and Bobbi haven't I? I can keep it from him." Ugh, I hated Maria, Ella, Josh, Ali, and Bobbi. They were my adoptive parents REAL kids, a fact of which they always reminded me when I misbehaved.

The scene dissolved for a moment and suddenly the six of us were back in the Leaky Cauldron, only on the other side of the room. Sitting at a table in front of us were Dumbledore, an eleven year old me, and Harry. It seemed like Harry and I were having a staring match, for we were both staring at each other not blinking until Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Well obviously there is a reason I have called the two of you here today." We broke our gaze and turned to stare at him.

I only half listened as the Dumbledore in the memory explained to Harry and I that I was his sister and only he and a few, limited close friends of our parents knew that I was born that way if Voldemort did hunt them down, that there was the chance he wouldn't even know about me so he wouldn't kill me as well. I had already replayed that conversation in my head over and over before.

I soon found myself back in the room above the Three Broomsticks.

"Potter and Evans are your parents?" McGonagall asked me, shocked. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. as I put the memories back into my mind before I took the memories of first hearing of Sirius' escape and what he had done, of hearing more in the Three Broomsticks, and of learning that he was innocent.

I found myself back in the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking to Mr. Weasley at the bar. The _Daily Prophet_ sat on the table, and Sirius' photo stood out from it.

**A/N: Review? Please?**

**The next chapter should be up soon as I already have most if not all of it written. But I might not post it until tomorrow since I have quite a lot of homework  
**


	11. Undercover

**Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, so it doesn't belong to me. Except the plot and anything you don't recognize.**

**A/N: So this would have been posted last night if I didn't get writers' block for a bit. If anybody has any ideas for future chapters to make the time pass before I have my own ideas - which, in the story, is another year later - feel free to tell me.  
**

Chapter 10

Nobody else seemed to notice Sirius' face until the younger me said something about it.

"Who's that?" the younger me asked, looking disgustedly at him.

"Sirius Black," Mr. Weasley answered.

"He was on the Muggle news. What did he do?" I asked.

"Broke out of Azkaban, that's what," Fred said, coming up from behind me. (I thought I heard McGonagall gasp, shocked that Sirius had been in Azkaban.)"You must be Nicole." I nodded nervously. "I'm Fred, this is George." He indicated the twin behind him. "Hello Harry!" Harry waved and I asked Fred,

"Why was he in Azkaban to being with?"

"Murder," George answered solemnly. McGonagall gasped again.

"Of thirteen people –" Fred continued. Another gasp.

"– in the middle of the street –"

"– in broad daylight –"

"– with a single curse," they finished together. I heard all three girls gasp this time.

"B-B-But, Black would never do that!" McGonagall whispered behind me.

"He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who," Mr. Weasley said. "One of his most trusted Death Eaters."

"No! That's not something Black would do!" McGonagall said to Dumbledore.

"How did he get out?"

"Well if we knew that, would we be having this problem?" Mr. Weasley asked. "But we're certain he broke out to bring Voldemort back to power." The younger me stared at Sirius' picture.

The scene dissolved and we were back in the Three Broomsticks. Harry and I were hiding behind a Christmas tree in a table in the corner, and the six of us watching the memory listened as McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Fudge, and Madam Rosmerta discussed how Sirius had betrayed Lily and James and then killed a dozen Muggles and Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh Merlin!" McGonagall whispered behind me. I turned and gave her a faint smile as Regulus gave my hand a light squeeze. The scene dissolved again, and we were standing on a hill a little ways away from Hagrid's. We could see Harry, Ron, Hermione and I even though we were under the cloak because I knew we were there. Ron was struggling with Scabbers.

"Oh, please, Ron," Hermione whispered.

"It's Scabbers – he won't – stay put –"

Ron was struggling with Scabbers for a moment before we continued moving again, and then Scabbers bit Ron, who dropped him and ran after him. We caught up with him and I had Ron put Scabbers in my purse so he couldn't get away again - I was slightly disgusted that I had carried a purse.

The six of us watched as Sirius, in his Animagus form, grabbed my leg and then Ron grabbed my hand as he pulled me into the hole beneath the Whomping Willow. Ron's leg wrapped around a root and then snapped. McGonagall, Dorcas, and Marlene jumped and I led them through the hole into the tunnel. I kept Ron in sight but didn't get near enough to see too much until we were led into the Shrieking Shack.

We followed Ron, Sirius, and I upstairs and into one of the rooms upstairs. Sirius transformed, but not before he had managed to wrestle Ron and I's wands from us.

I shrieked; Ron yelled. Sirius stared at us; mostly me, although I hadn't realized it at the time. He didn't speak, but instead helped Ron onto the four-poster and turning to me. I stared at him, my eyes wide, before backing into a wall behind the door.

Sirius advanced on me, and his eyes went to my purse. I swallowed and put it behind my bag, and I heard him groan.

"Just give me the bag," he said hoarsely. "And nobody will get hurt."

"What?" McGonagall whispered.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him.

"What do you want the bag for?"

"Just give it and you can take him back to the castle." He jerked his head toward Ron. I didn't say anything, and he pointed Ron and I's wands at me.

The door burst open, hiding Sirius and I from view, and Harry and Hermione came in quickly. They dashed across to Ron.

"Ron – are you okay?"

"Where's the dog? And Nicole?"

"Not a dog," Ron muttered. "Harry – it's a trap. _He's the dog...he's an AnimagusI_!" He pointed toward the door, and Sirius closed it door with a snap.

I knew Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall, Dorcas, and Marlene were watching the scene unfold intently, even though I didn't turn around to look at them.

Sirius had turned Ron and I's wands to Harry and Hermione and croaked,

"_Expelliarmus!_" Their wands flew in an arch to him and he caught them easily.

I only half listened as Sirius taunted Harry about James, and Ron told Sirius if he wanted to kill Harry he'd have to kill us too, and then as Harry got mad at Sirius and then Hermione and then flew at Sirius.

I had had to jump quickly out of the way to keep from getting toppled on by Sirius and Harry. Harry wrestled the four wands out of Sirius' hands and then gave each one back to it's owner before pointing his at Sirius.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" Sirius whispered.

"You killed my parents," Harry said.

"I don't deny it," Sirius said. I had completely forgotten he had said that, and I groaned in my throat.

"Sirius..." I said as Sirius tried to convince Harry to listen to him.

"H-Harry?" the younger me said quietly. Harry turned to glare at me. "I – I think you should listen to him." Harry practically growled at me.

"Stay out of it, Nicole. You don't understand."

"Oh, I don't understand? They were my parents too, you know! But before you and Hermione got up here, you know what he said? That he wanted my bag! Not to hurt anybody. Ask Ron." Harry glared at me before turning to Ron, who nodded slightly.

"Yea, mate, that _is _what he said."

"You _trust _him? He murdered _thirteen_ people – " There was a creak from below us, and Hermione screamed,

"WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE – SIRIUS BLACK – _QUICK_!"

Soon, Remus joined us and had disarmed the four of us who still had wands.

"Where is he, Sirius?"

Sirius slowly lifted a hand to point at me. I felt all the eyes in the room on me, and I looked bewildered.

"I think you should know by now that I am _not _a _he_," I said to the room at large. Remus ignored me and instead turned back to Sirius.

"But then...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless – unless _he_ was the one...unless you switched...without telling me?" Dumbledore looked as if he had realized something, and turned to me.

"Sirius," he whispered so only I could hear as Sirius and Remus hugged and then Hermione and Harry were furious. "He's innocent isn't he?" I nodded as I heard Remus telling us of how he knew we were there.

"...Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid's, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" Harry asked. "No, we weren't!" I saw Moody, McGonagall, Dorcas, and Marlene exchange very confused glances, and my younger self glancing toward my bag in my left hand.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," Remus continued. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!"

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled _Sirius Black_...I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled three of you into the Whomping Willow – "

"Two of us!" Ron said angrily. After a minute, Sirius said,

"An Animagus, by the name of Peter Pettigrew." In the silence that followed, McGonagall, Marlene, and Dorcas gasped, and turned to me.

"Black is innocent, isn't he?" Moody asked. They seemed to have pieced it all together. I nodded, and we all watched silently as everything was explained with better detail, as Snape threatened to kill Sirius, as Scabbers turned into Wormtail, as we left the Whomping Willow, and as Remus turned into a werewolf.

"Stay here Nicole!" Harry yelled as he and Hermione ran toward where they heard Sirius.

"What?" I asked, "No!"

"Yes! Wake Snape, he can help!" Hermione said. Harry shook his head, but I was already prodding Snape with my wand.

"Professor? Professor please! Wake up, we need help! Professor!" Finally, I pointed my wand at him and screamed, "_Ennervate_!" Snape suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Miss Potter, you are in – "

"Yeah, yeah, I'm in big trouble, but so are Harry and Hermione! Tons of Dementrors – going to suck their soul – Black is innocent – " I ran toward where Harry and Hermione were, hearing Snape running behind me, and I followed behind. I saw a great, white stag Patronus running the Dementors away. I heard Snape saying something behind me as the Patronus disappeared and I saw Harry behind it. Our eyes had locked, and then I glanced at the Harry on the ground.

When I glanced back up, the other Harry was gone...

The scene dissolved, and I landed loudly back in the Three Broomsticks.

"What happened after that?" McGonagall asked. I explained to her how Harry, Hermione, and I went back in time to save Buckbeak and Sirius.

Instead of showing them memories from my fourth year and most of my fifth year, I just told them briefly what happened.

"I will make sure I never hire Dolores Umbridge," Dumbledore stated, blanching slightly when I told them of the punishment Umbridge had used. Marlene had examined the scars on the back of my hands – one reading _I must not tell lies_ since I had lost my temper when she said Voldemort wasn't back, the other reading _I will obey the High Inquisitor_ because I failed to listen to anything Umbridge told me – and had tsked.

"If you were my child, I'd kill Umbridge. Even if she hasn't done it in this life."

Everyone, especially Regulus', faces paled when I told them of the dream of Sirius and Voldemort that Harry had had, and then even more when I had told them of Sirius' death, a few tears sliding down my face silently.

I summed up the next two years, my fourth year and then the time I had spent as a captive and the time after that, in a few sentences. I didn't really want to get into it at the moment.

"Miss Sawyer – or Potter, I should say," Moody said when I was done. "I must say I am so very sorry for ever accusing you of being a Death Eater." I smiled slightly at him.

"It's no big deal. I would have thought the same thing."

"Now, Miss Potter –- Nicole," Dumbledore corrected himself. "We need to figure some things out. You were planning on joining the Order, right?" I nodded. "Now as for the fact that Voldemort will trust you above all, do you –- ?"

"I have no idea what that means," I said honestly. "Maybe I'll go under cover like Snape or something." Not like I wanted to, though.

"That _would_ be a good idea," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "He might even entrust one or more of his Horcruxes to you – "

"I don't think so," Regulus said, waving his hands slightly and shaking his head. "That's too dangerous. I mean, he can just use Ligilimency to see that you are a traitor."

"I could train her in Occlumens, Regulus," Dumbledore said. "And also we could teach her a complete lie that she can memorize and stick to." Regulus shook his head.

"I _don't_ want you to _ever_ go near him again," he said. I sighed.

"Sorry, Reg, but that isn't your choice. I have to do what I have to do. I came here to change the future, and I _am_ going to change it, okay?" Regulus sighed and said,

"_Please_, Nicole, don't – "

"I _have_ to, Reg." He sighed again, and Dumbledore said,

"Next year, once school starts, I shall start weekly lessons with you, Nicole. Until then, you are to attend all Order meetings with Regulus. Mary and Kingsley are welcome to as well. I will owl you when they are. Do _not _tell anybody else. That is all for now. G'day, Regulus, Nicole."

"Thank you Professor."

"Oh, please, call me Albus. You deserve that much."

* * *

That night, I sat on a couch in the Common Room. It had been emptied out a while before then. Only Mary, Kingsley and I had remained, and they had both fallen asleep. I reached into the pockets of my robes – they were the ones I had arrived in – and pulled out two photos. They had been in my pockets when I had been kidnapped and hadn't been discovered and were slightly battered.

The first I had stolen from Sirius while we were staying at Grimmauld Place – he had had so many photos he never noticed. It was one of the last ones taken of my parents before Voldemort found them. Lily was holding a giggling Harry and James held a tiny bundle of blankets that I assumed was me. Sirius and Remus stood on the side, laughing at something behind the camera, and there was a giant rip in the side of it where Sirius had attempted to rip off Peter but had only gotten half of him.

The second was the newer Order of the Phoenix the summer before my third year, before the Ministry knew Voldemort had come back. Even though the twins, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Fleur and I weren't part of the Order we had been in the photo. My eyes wandered over the people who were laughing and didn't know that soon they would be dead.

I flipped it over, where I had written the names of everybody and had recently underlined those who would be killed. In green ink, it said:

"_Order of the Phoenix at Headquarters Number 12 Grimmauld Place, August 4__th__, 1995_

_Back row (Left to Right): Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore, Aberforth Dumbledore, Sturgis Podmore, Hagrid, Charlie Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus 'Dung' Fletcher, Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody_

_Middle Row: Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Arabella Figg, Hestia Jones, Emmaline Vance, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley _

_Front Row: Fleur Delacour-Weasley, Bill Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Nicole Potter, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter._

I flipped it back over. Fred, George, Sirius, and I were sniggering at something that wasn't in the photo, and it was clear Mrs. Weasley was reprimanding us. Dung and Snape looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there, and McGonagall and Dumbledore were shaking their heads and laughing at the Weasley twins, Sirius, and I. I looked closely and saw that my fingers were intertwined with Fred's.

I watched the photo for several minutes. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all joined in our laughter, but tried to hide it because Mrs. Weasley was now full out yelling at Fred, George and I. After a moment, Sirius stormed off of the picture – I remember Mrs. Weasley's yelling had caused his mother's portrait to wake up. By the time he came back, he was sulking and Fred and George and I had stopped laughing.

"Whatcha looking at?"

**A/N: Cliffie! Sorry it's kind of short, I'll try to make the next one longer. **

**I honestly don't know where I am going with this - I know where the story is going, but I don't know what I'm going to do to pass the time between this chapter and the next year. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Please review!  
**


	12. Contacts

**Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR except anything you don't recognize.**

**A/N: So this one is longer to make up for the short one.**

Chapter 11

"_Whatcha looking at?"_

I jumped and quickly shoved the picture back inside of my pocket before turning around to see who was standing behind me.

"Sirius!" I said, sighing. "You scared me half to death!" Sirius didn't even crack a smile.

"What were you looking at?" he asked me, climbing over the side of the couch and sitting next to me.

"Nothing," I said quickly, narrowing my eyes as if I had no idea what he was on about. "I was just sitting here."

"No," he said slowly. "I saw that you had what looked like a picture in your hand. You shoved it in your pocket when you heard me." He paused, and then smiled slightly. "Lemme see it." I shook my head slowly.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It – It's Kingsley's picture. It's not mine to show," I lied. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"I think it's yours and you just don't want to show me. Come on. I won't tell anybody if it's embarrassing." I stood up quickly and gathered my books. Sirius stood up as well, reaching toward my pocket. I jumped backward, dropping my books onto the floor, and ran to the girls' staircase, which I jumped on swiftly. Sirius followed me to the girls' staircase, where he stopped.

"Why are you being so persistent? I can't show you, and if you don't get that, you can't get me now anyway." He looked at the stairs before stepping onto the lower one.

The stairs turned into a slide and I fell onto my ass before sliding down the five steps I had just jumped. I landed at the bottom by Sirius' feet, and he reached his hand out.

"Lemme see it. Please."

"What's gotten into you?" I asked loudly, hoping to wake up Kingsley and/or Mary. "You aren't usually like this. Are you okay?" Sirius didn't respond, and I questioned, "Sirius? Are you okay?" He swallowed, closed his eyes, and then opened them again before nodding.

"S – Sorry, it's just – I get grumpy when people don't give me what I want when I'm tired." He kept his hand out and helped me to my feet. "I really am sorry." I shrugged.

"It's no big deal." Sirius paused.

"Why won't you really let me see it?" I smiled slightly at him.

"I – I can't tell you. You'll find out sooner or later, though." He smiled mischievously.

"I'll make sure that it's sooner and not later."

* * *

The summer flew by fast. Regulus and I had only attended five Order meetings. Mary and Kingsley had only attended three of these. Sirius, James, Lily, and Remus had attended all but one, and Peter had only attended two. Lily had been shocked that I had been allowed in under age.

"We could barely convince Dumbledore to let _us_ in, and you're two years younger than us!" she had astonished. I had just shrugged and walked away.

Before I knew it, we were at King's Cross saying our good-byes to Sirius before boarding the train. He had tried through the whole summer to find out what the picture was, but he hadn't ever succeeded. Luckily, though, he had never forced me to show it and had just joked around about it.

I had gotten Quidditch captain that year, and was greatly excited about it, even though I had to schedule it around Dumbledore's lessons.

We had gotten a compartment with Mary and Kingsley this year, and made sure nobody outside could overhear us as we started to discuss where the Horcruxes might be in this time.

"The locket's probably already there, as is the ring and diadem. I know that much," I said.

"There's no way to know if Voldemort has Nigini yet," Mary said. It was now as uncommon to hear "Voldemort" as it had been back in my time; he was now, officially, "You-Know-Who."

"There is a possibility he has already given Malfoy the diary and Bellatrix the cup, but it's not a certain assumption," Regulus said.

"And Harry hasn't even been born yet," I pointed out.

"So that leaves the part of his soul that's in his body." I nodded.

* * *

As Quidditch captain, it was my job to create the team. Luckily, we only had two positions to fill – beater and chaser – and they were filled easily; Dante Leon's twin brother, Dijon, as beater and Brandon Taylor as chaser, who had narrowly missed filling the spot last year. Our first game was against Hufflepuff, and I had high hopes for our team.

I had my first lesson with Dumbledore was the first Saturday of the year, four days after the start of school.

I had been given a note by McGonagall after our first Transfiguration lesson of the year. Seven o'clock, Saturday, the fifth, in his office.

The first lesson mostly was Dumbledore trying to explain to me how to beat Ligilimens and the Imperious Curse. I had to remind him that I had beaten the Imperious Curse before, so he just got on with trying to help me learn Occlumency. But, since I had already known how to do Occlumency, I was better than he had expected.

He had also told me to get the Diadem for him and bring it back to him the next Saturday for our lesson. We still had no idea how to destroy the Horcruxes, though, being as the Basilisk was still alive. Dumbledore had considered FiendFyre, but we had decided it was too dangerous considering what it had done last time. He had also considered trying to learn Parseltongue so he could get into the Chamber of Secrets and then kill the Basilisk with Gryffindor's sword, but it was only if we had no other option.

It took me until after Halloween to finally master Occlumency at Dumbledore's strongest point of Ligilimens, which was pretty strong. Dumbledore had made up a good cover story that I memorized, and later had Regulus, Mary, Kingsley and I meet him in his office.

"Now, Nicole, I need you to somehow slowly distance yourself from these three. Slowly start talking to the Slytherins until you feel as close to them as you do to these three." I had reluctantly agreed.

But the task was easier said than done. I had no way to get the Slytherins that I knew would become Death Eaters to talk to me.

I had managed to seem distant from Regulus, Mary, and Kingsley in public, but still couldn't get the Slytherins to even look at me without jinxing me. Especially when we beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw at Quidditch and were with the Slytherins in the running for the cup.

Christmas was suddenly upon us, though, and I had decided to spend it with Regulus and Sirius at Sirius' house. Of course, Dumbledore had to make it seem like I still hated them even though I sat in the same compartment as them by making me remain "silent and sulky" whenever somebody, anybody, else could see us. Except Sirius, James, Remus, or anybody from the Order. They had, apparently, already been informed that I was going undercover for him as a Death Eater and had to pretend to hate them in public. Apparently, those who knew me "didn't take it too well." I had no idea what Dumbledore meant by _that_, but hoped they wouldn't get upset with me for deciding to do it.

I had to refrain myself from hugging Sirius when we approached him, and he didn't seem shocked at all that I was acting sulky. He pretended to be a little upset by it, but was a terrible actor.

Once we arrived at his house, Regulus and I dissolved into fits of laughter. Sirius stared at us, bewildered.

"What?" he asked.

"Y – Y – You – " Regulus began, but couldn't say anymore because he was laughing too hard. Finally, we calmed enough to say,

"You're a _terrible_ actor." Sirius frowned and huffed, turning to me.

"Nicole, what – were – you – thinking?" he asked suddenly. I frowned.

"What are you talking about – ?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," Sirius said sternly. "Going undercover as a Death Eater, that's what! If Voldemort finds out, he will torture you until you're _begging _him for death!"

"I'd never beg," I huffed, plopping down onto a couch. I should've known this was coming. And I'd survived his wrath before, although Sirius didn't know that.

"That doesn't matter," Sirius said, waving his hand impatiently. He started to pace in front of me, and I saw Regulus slip quietly out of the room. "Being as you don't have a parent to give you this talk, although Regulus should have, I will.

"You can't do this. It'll only hurt you more than it'll help anything, any_one. _I know that's all you want to do, but you'll just be hurting yourself. Please, consider what you're doing, Nicole. I can't tell you not to do it – that's your choice – but please, _please_, consider the fact that maybe somebody with more experience, with less to lose, should do this."

He stopped in front of me and stared down at me. "You have so much ahead of you. You're only sixteen, for Merlin's sake. You shouldn't be worrying about surviving as a traitor right under Voldemort's nose." He really sounded concerned, really worried. I realized then that he would've made a great father, even if he did joke around quite a bit.

"Sirius," I said quietly. "I know exactly what I'm getting into. I know what risks this job comes with. But I also know that if Voldemort gains more power than he has, I won't want to be alive. I'll be better off dead than alive, especially if I had been on Dumbledore's side." Sirius opened his mouth to continue, but I held up a hand. "Please, Sirius. Don't give me this talk. I already know it all. And I also know that if I do this, I could be saving tons of innocent lives." Sirius sighed and, after a pause, sat down beside me.

"Just...promise me you'll be careful?" he said quietly. I smiled encouragingly and said,

"I promise."

"And that you'll show me that picture?" I couldn't help it; I laughed.

"You'll find out." His eyes look hopeful. "Eventually." He frowned. "I can promise that much." Could I keep that promise, though? I didn't know.

Sirius smiled and pulled me into a tight hug, whispering into my ear,

"Just stay safe, Nicki." I stiffened; the last person to call me Nicki was Harry. I was often called Nick, but not Nicki. "Do that much for yourself. For Regulus. For everyone." I smiled and Sirius pulled back, ruffling my hair. "Now go unpack." I smiled even wider.

"Thanks Sirius. For everything." He smiled gently but didn't say anymore.

I headed upstairs, dragging my trunk behind me. I walked down the hall to the turn at the end, where the guest room was. As I turned the corner, I gasped and dropped my trunk with a _thud!_

Lying in the middle of the hallway was what was unmistakably Harry dead, with blood oozing out of his chest. If the first thing my eyes saw hadn't been the scar on his forehead, I would have thought it was James.

I couldn't stop the shriek that escaped my lips before I realized what it really was.

"Bloody Boggart," I muttered, pulling out my wand. "_Riddikulus!_" I said, raising my wand against the Boggart.

Unfortunately, I wasn't concentrating hard enough, and the Boggart's eyes opened. I noticed that instead of green, they were hazel, and the scar was gone. I watched as Boggart James stood up and the blood from the last attempt to scare me disappeared.

"Why do you think I'm afraid of James?" I asked the thing, even though I was certain it couldn't understand me.

Then, much to my surprise, Boggart James said quietly,

"I don't like or trust you." Ah, so that's what he was playing at here. "Not one bit. I don't understand why Dumbledore – "

"_Riddikulus!_" somebody behind me cried, interrupting the Boggart, who vanished with a _pop!_into a puff of smoke.

I turned around, stunned, and saw Regulus standing behind me. I was about to thank God that it was only Regulus, but I then saw Sirius standing behind him, shocked.

"Why were you afraid of James not liking or trusting you?" he asked. I tried to shrug nonchalantly, but it didn't work as I had hoped.

"I guess the thing I'm most afraid of is not being accepted. As for why it was James, I don't know." I picked my trunk up again and said, when the other two didn't leave,

"I'm fine; you can go. It was just a Boggart."

* * *

Later that day, Remus, James, and Lily came over and tried giving me the same lecture Sirius did – no, scratch that, they _did_ give me the same lecture. I just wasn't listening this time.

Instead, I was trying to figure out if I could send a Patronus with a message through time to talk to Harry again. I was really starting to miss him, worse than before. I figured that since so far I really hadn't changed too much in the future, except maybe that Regulus was alive, if I sent it to at least 20 years into the future, which would be around Christmas 1998, nothing would be changed.

Remus, James, Lily, and Sirius were so busy lecturing me they didn't even realize that I was trying to remember how to say _20 years_ and _future_ in Latin. Finally, I remembered, cast my Patronus – which only Regulus noticed, but didn't comment on – muttered the spell to send it to the future, cast a spell so they wouldn't be able to hear me, and started talking to the Patronus.

"Hey Harry! If this worked, which I'm starting to doubt it will, you probably just fainted at hearing my voice after I'm supposedly dead. Well, I am dead – in your time. You won't believe this, but I am sitting in 1978 a week before Christmas listening to Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily give me a lecture on why I shouldn't go undercover like Snape did for Dumbledore. Don't even tell me that it's dangerous – I've been listening to four people tell me that for three hours – no joke or exaggeration. They haven't even realized that there is a Patronus in Sirius' drawing room. Oh, wait, Regulus noticed, but he doesn't look like he cares. He probably just wants them to shut up.

"So, what year _did_ I send this to? What's been up in 1998, where this is supposed to go? How is everyone? The Weasleys? Teddy? Tell me everything I'm missing!" I then told him how to send a Patronus to me in this time and to make sure it was addressed to only me so they wouldn't be able to hear it too.

As my Patronus whisked out of sight, the four giving me the lecture noticed.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, staring at the window it had disappeared out of.

"What'd it look like? A Patronus. You guys have been saying the same thing over and over for three hours. I was bored." I shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to talk to Regulus privately." Regulus turned his head sharply toward me and followed me to the guest room.

"What did you do?" he asked sternly.

"What makes you think it's bad?" I asked. "But I found a way to contact Harry!" I told him how I did it, and he was shocked, but covered it up by saying,

"You shouldn't have done that!"

"Why?" He opened his mouth and then closed it, before saying,

"I don't know!"

Just then, a silver otter came in the window, and Hermione's all too familiar voice filled the room, but I knew that Regulus couldn't hear it because he seemed confused.

"Nicole! Do you know how many things could have gone wrong with that? It could have been sent to us before any of that happened, or – " she started to ramble off things that could have gone wrong, and I only half listened until she said, " – but I guess I understand why you wanted to do it. You're right, Harry did faint. His kids are in a right fuss now, too, worried about what happened to him. Yes, he has kids, four of them. You might be able to hear them arguing." I could hear voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"We're all doing great, I'll let Harry tell you more when he wakes up, which he's coming to slowly. How are Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily? I'm guessing you haven't told them who you are, have you? And Nicole, listen, _don't_ go undercover." I rolled my eyes. "It's too dangerous!" Her voice drifted off, and I said to Regulus,

"You couldn't hear that, could you?" He shook his head. "I"ll make sure that I have them address it so that you can hear it too." I said the spells that made it send to the future, and said,

"Hermione, all those things that could've gone wrong, they didn't, did they? So there's no need worrying about it. Harry had kids? What year is this? No, I haven't told them, but I've told Dumbledore, Regulus, Kingsley, Mary MacDonald, Mad-Eye, McGonagall, Marlene McKinnon, and Dorcas Meadows. I don't suppose you know many of them. And as for going undercover, it's already decided. Oh, and next time you address this to me, make it so Regulus can hear it too." The silver wolf darted out of the window and disappeared into the night.

Only a few minutes later, a stag came into the room. I smiled as Harry's voice filled the room.

"Nicole! Oh my God, I don't believe it! And don't listen to Hermione, I didn't faint – " I heard Ron in the background, yelling,

"Yes he did!"

" – Okay, fine, I did. It's 2017 here. Yes, I do have four kids. Ron and Hermione have two – yes, they _finally_ got together."

"Hey! It was 18 years ago!" Hermione said in the background.

"Rose is 11 and Hugo is nine," Harry continued like he didn't hear her. "I married Ginny. James Sirius is 13 – "

"Hiya Aunt Nicki!" I laughed; that was a James Sirius if I ever heard one, I knew it already.

" – Quiet, James. Albus Severus is 11." I snorted; Albus Severus? Poor kid. "Lily Luna is 9 and Nicole Sawyer is 8." The smile that was previously on my face slipped – not that I wasn't happy that he had named his kid after me, but it just felt strange. "She is _just like you_. No joke. Teddy is 19, and is dating Bill and Fleur's girl Vicotire. And I guess you don't know this, but Remus, Tonks, and Fred are, well, they're dead."

"Hey Grandma!" I heard the voice I recognized as James' say in the background. "Dad's talking to – !"

"James, no!" Harry cried desperately.

" – Aunt Nicole!"

"Annnd there goes Molly," Harry commented.

"Oops," James said quietly.

The stag disappeared, and I cast the spells needed and said,

"I figured Ron and Hermione would end up together. Hiya James. I can already tell you're a James Sirius if I ever met one – _don't_ take that as a compliment. And, sorry Albus if you hear this, but _Albus Severus_?_ Really?_ All I have to say is poor kid. He better not take after his second namesake and be in Slytherin – Just kidding, it really doesn't matter to me what house you're in Al. And I already knew about Remus, Tonks, and Fred. How else would I have known that Voldemort was gone and that it was safe to send this? Tell Molly I said hello, I hope she's okay."

I sent it off, missing Harry more and more by the minute.

Regulus must have realized it, because he came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he said quietly. I nodded.

"I know that now. Maybe I should tell him that I have to go and not to contact me unless I contact him first. Then I'll never have to contact him again. But that will make me feel bad for not contacting him again."

A silver stag erupted into the room, and Harry said,

"He is _definitely_ a James Sirius – "

"Thanks Dad!" James said happily. I could imagine Harry rolling his eyes.

"Of course, you would know better than I if he is really like them. Don't make fun of Al, although he hates his name too and agrees whole-heartedly with you. He's in Gryffindor. Molly's fine, but how did you know that about Remus, Tonks, and Fred?"

"Hey Aunt Nicki, you should come here, to the future!" I heard James yell in the background. "It'd be awesome to meet you, if only for a little while!"

"Don't listen to him, Nicole, it's too dangerous to time-travel. Actually, I don't think, and Hermione agrees, that we should continue this. Not that it's not good to talk to you again, it is, it really is, but this is quite dangerous, especially for you. I think that unless you need something really important that we shouldn't do this anymore." Regulus' eyes met mine.

"Looks like you think a lot like your brother," he said softly, putting his hand into mine. I cast my Patronus for possibly the last time. I explained to him shortly how I knew that, and said,

"Yes, I know Hermione forced you to say that, don't lie. But I agree. I'll only contact you again if I need something important. Bye Harry. I love you and everyone else there." And for the last time, a stag entered the room a few minutes later.

"Bye Nicole! It's really, really great to hear from you again," Hermione's voice said, breaking slightly.

"Bye Nicole," Ron said. Hugo and Rose also said bye, and then Albus, Lily, James, Teddy, and Nicole.

"I really wish you could've met them all. You'll always be with us, and we're always with you. All of us. Bye, Nicole. I love you."

A single tear rolled down my cheek as the silver stag disappeared for the last time...

**A/N: So I had to put Harry in there _somewhere! _It is a _Harry _Potter FF anyway.**

**Will it really be the last time? Or not? Only time will tell! **

**If it is, it probably won't be the last we hear of Harry. I have two sub-plots that I might add – I might only add one, I might add neither – either way, Harry is in them, but he is only _sorta_ in one. You'll understand if/when it comes time!**

**So, love it? Hate it? Bad? Good? Okay? Review? Please? They make my day! _Please? _Thank you!**

**Also, if anybody has any ideas for the plot of this story, feel free to tell me in a review! Any help is welcome and appreciated!**


	13. Quidditch Final

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR, everything you don't recognize belongs to me.**

**A/N: So I changed it to Gryffindor versus Slytherin in the final Quidditch game because it just sounded better with the plot that way, at least for me. **

Chapter 12

School started up again quickly. Regulus had made me promise to not contact Harry again, and I planned on following through with that promise. He also tried to get me to promise to tell Dumbledore during our first lesson when we were back that I had contacted Harry, just in case Dumbledore could somehow use this information, but I couldn't promise him that because I didn't plan on telling Dumbledore at all.

My first lesson with Dumbledore after we got back, he pretty much told me how to let Voldemort view certain memories, but keep others private, and even how to show him fake memories. It took a lot of energy, and I got pretty close to all three on my fifth try. He also reminded me to get working on talking to the Slytherins.

But this became harder and harder as the Gryffindor verses Slytherin game come closer and closer – if we won by at least 50 points we would win the House Cup, if not it belonged to Slytherin.

But with a lot of hard work, I finally got the seventh year Slytherins to talk to me – honestly, I don't know how I did it, but somehow, I did. The only thing that worried me was getting to know them and getting them to trust me.

But, it proved easier than I had expected. I soon knew them as well as I knew Regulus. For instance, Lestrange had liked Bellatrix for three years, even though she was eight years older than him – which, by the way, I found disgusting. He hated his older brother, but wanted to follow in his footsteps anyway.

Rosier had had his first kiss with a Muggle girl – something the others made sure to pick on him about all the time. He pretended like he hated that fact of his life, but _I_ could tell by his eyes that he really still liked the girl.

Wilkes and Selwynn had something going on between them. Something causing them to hate – or maybe like? – each other. The others didn't seem to notice, but I found it quite obvious. And Yaxley would do anything for himself – to stay alive and to stay out of prison. He hated kids and never wanted to get married or even date . Ever.

I made them believe that I hoped I was a pureblood, and told them that I hated Muggles and, as Dumbledore had forced me to call them in public, Mudbloods. I had also told them I had wanted to join Voldemort for a long time and had finally seen the "error of my previous ways" and that I was part of the Order just so I could pass their information onto Voldemort.

So, just like that, I was accepted into their little "gang of Slytherins." They must have been really stupid not to realize I flinched every time I said Mudblood or talked about how Voldemort was "all glory" and would soon be our "master." Then again, they were Slytherins.

I had no idea how you became a Death Eater, but didn't ask Dumbledore. I found it quite a stupid question, really;

"Excuse me, professor, but how_ do_ you become a Death Eater?"

I guess I'd just have to wait and find out.

* * *

The Quidditch final was looming in just a few weeks. I had cut off my lessons with Dumbledore until after it because every moment that wasn't spent in classes, I had the team out on the pitch. And I was lucky – most of them agreed. And I say _most_ for a reason.

"Come on, Sawyer, you're killing us," one of the Leon twins – I could never tell which one was which, and I could even tell the _Weasley_ twins apart – complained three days before the game. It was cloudy out and I heard thunder in the distance, but had them training anyway. I figured it was Dante who had talked because I had come to realize they may look exactly alike but otherwise were complete opposites. It's a wonder to me how they even got into the same house.

"Shut up, Leon," Brandon Taylor, a chaser, told him. "You want to win, don't you?"

"Yes, but – "

"Taylor's right, Dante," the other twin, Dijon, told him. "If we don't practice every time Sawyer can book the pitch, we're screwed because Slytherin will have the pitch booked. They know we have a great team, so they'll want to train as much as possible." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Frank, who had had Herbology and had to arrive late to practice, come running onto the pitch with a roll of parchment in his hand.

"Hey, guys! Guys!" he yelled. I swooped down and hovered about three feet off of the ground next to him.

"What is it?" Anna Rivers, the other Chaser, asked, swooping down next to me.

"Madam Hootch had some personal thing come up and can't referee the game."

"Then who's going to referee?" CJ Connelly, seeker, asked.

"Don't tell me it's canceled," I said.

"It's not canceled. It's going to be refereed by James Potter!" There was a silent pause, during which I thought _thank God it isn't someone worse – wait, James? Why is he refereeing?_

"Well that's great!" Brandon said. "He'll favor us, he hates the Slytherins!"

"Well if he shows _too _much favoritism, he'll get in trouble," Anna pointed out.

"So? He'll show as much as he wants!" Dijon said.

"Does this mean we don't have to practice as much?" Dante asked.

"NO!" I said. But I wasn't the only one. Dijon, CJ, Anna, and Brandon had all said it too, and Frank probably would have had he not been reading over the parchment again.

"I've reread it over and over wondering when it's going to say something else, but it always says the same thing," he said distractedly. Brandon yanked it out of his hands and his eyes scanned it quickly.

"Yep, it says James Potter is refereeing alright." I suddenly had an idea.

I narrowed my eyes and looked around the pitch, looking for any sign of movement.

But there was none.

"What are you thinking?" Frank asked, noticing my narrowed eyes. I hesitated before answering.

"You don't think it's the Slytherins' idea of a joke, do you? Make us think we will have a referee who will favor us so we don't practice as hard and lose against them?" Everybody's face turned to apprehension, the same look that I was sure was on mine.

* * *

But the morning of the game, we figured it wasn't a joke. The Slytherins were all shooting glares at us, and the Quidditch team – apart from Regulus, who, even though I had to distance myself from, continued to sit with me at meals and in class ("If anybody asks, I have an attachment problem," he told me quietly one day when asked about it.) – all looked very nervous.

And, sitting in the seat at the teachers table in the seat that Madam Hootch usually sat in was a very bright looking James Potter, deep in discussion about who knows what with Slughorn. When he saw me enter, he winked at me, causing most heads in the Great Hall to turn to me and for me to nearly blush before I remembered that he was my _father _and that he had _winked _at me, which caused me to gag while sitting down by Regulus, who, of course, sniggered.

"Great to see you seem to have finally realized that he's your _father_," he whispered into my ear, causing me to hit his arm harder than I had intended to. "That's going to bruise!" he complained as he rubbed the spot where I had hit him.

"Good. You deserve it." I stood up and gathered up the team before heading out to the pitch with them, leaving Regulus glaring behind me.

"Don't catch the snitch unless we are less than 100 points behind them," I reminded CJ on our way down to the pitch. "Which shouldn't happen anyway because we have a great team."

Once we were down at the pitch, I saw that the Leon twins were not there yet. I groaned; I should've known they would be late or almost late. It was a bright, sunny, cloudless, perfect day. Crowds had starting to head down to the pitch, and James floated on a broom ten feet above them, having a shouting conversation with Hagrid from nearly across the stadium.

Finally, two blurs of gold and red ran into the changing rooms.

"S – S – Sorry," one of them panted. "We – We got lost in the crowd."

"Yeah," the other agreed. "And guess who we saw that turned up? Dumbledore! He never comes to games anymore! And McGonagall and Slughorn looked about ready to _fist_ fight – _fist fight! McGonagall and Slughorn!_" I laughed and said, ignoring the last part,

"So I'm not going to give a long, annoying speech and instead just say that we should have this. I've seen their practices – they're nowhere near as good as us. So just – do your best!"

I heard the commentator, a sixth year Gryffindor whom I didn't know the name of, calling us out. He listed us as we came,

"Connelly – Rivers – Sawyer – Taylor – Leon – Leon – and Longbottom!" The crowd, three-fourths of which were wearing gold and scarlet, cheered – only a few boos could be made out of the entire crowd. The Slytherins were announced, and then I was nearly forced to shake hands with their captain – some big sixth year who was one of the Slytherin beaters and seemed to try as hard as possible to break my fingers; which, to him, were probably as easy to break as sticks.

We were warned to have a clean game – even though I knew that wasn't going to happen – and we mounted our brooms.

"Three – two – one – " James blew his whistle, and I leaped forward and grabbed the Quaffle.

"Sawyer of Gryffindor with the Quaffle – passes to Rivers, who passes back to Sawyer..."

The game wore on quickly, and before I knew it, when the score was Gryffindor 40 to Slytherin 70, I saw a red blur diving downward past me. I turned quickly – Anna and Brandon were further ahead of me, battling for possession of the Quaffle – and saw CJ and Regulus speeding downward, where a golden blur was hovering a few feet off of the ground.

They both reached their arm out, neither of them backing down. I started to feel nervous – I didn't think they could make it. One, if not both, of them was bound to hit the ground.

But then, so fast I had no idea what had happened, they both pulled out of the dive. CJ had one of his hands in the air, and Regulus looked a little disappointed –

"Connelly has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

The crowd exploded; the yelling was so loud I couldn't hear myself talking.

I spun on my broom toward the goal posts, where most of our team, excluding CJ, one of the twins and myself, were already celebrating.

I saw the Slytherin captain swing his bat at one of the bludgers, pissed off that his team had lost the game.

I thought at first that the bludger was supposed to go to Regulus, since he would be easiest to blame for losing, but that his aim was seriously off.

Instead of flying toward the ground and to the beater's left, the bludger flew up and to his right. I could somehow hear the whooshing over the crowd as the bludger flew straight toward me.

Wait –_straight toward me?_

That's when I realized it _hadn't_ meant to be hit toward Regulus, but to be hit toward _me_.

Somehow, even though I saw and knew it was coming, I didn't have enough time to react. Maybe I just froze up, maybe it happened faster than I remember. Either way, I couldn't move out of the way fast enough.

The bludger ran straight into my stomach. I heard a crunch, then two more, and pain coursed through my ribs as I was thrown backward and off of my broom. A high-pitched scream sounded from somewhere as I plummeted down to the ground. It took me a moment to realize the scream I had heard had come from _me_.

Wind blew past me as I fell down, being almost all I could hear. I heard the crowd gasp as one and a few people yell or scream. My hair stuck to my sweat-stained face and I closed my eyes tightly, my heart beating so loud and fast I was sure _everybody_ in the now silent crowd could hear it.

So _this_ was how I was going to die once and for all – falling from thirty yards up after captaining the team that won the House Cup.

Well, as long as it was fast and didn't hurt, I was fine with it.

But then I stopped falling suddenly. I felt what seemed to be arms holding me tightly, protectively, behind my knees and back. I realized they _were_ arms as I was set on the broom with both legs on one side and instinctively put my arms around whoever-had-caught-me's neck tightly– I still hadn't opened my eyes, and I wasn't sure that, after that, I could ever fly again without feeling sick.

It felt as if we were descending, and then I was pulled off of the broom. My feet hit solid ground finally. I still refused to open my eyes as the arms holding me disappeared.

I opened my eyes slowly. Everything was blurry; faces of people that I, for some reason or another, didn't recognize were in front of me, checking me to make sure I was okay, even though _they_ wouldn't be okay if they were me. I swayed on the spot before slipping into darkness once again...

* * *

My eyes felt sewed together. My ribs were sore and hurt badly. I couldn't move any part of my body, so I laid in the bed that I was sure was in the Hospital Wing silently. No light flooded through my eyelids, so I guessed it was past sunset, and curfew, possibly the middle of the night. Everything was silent for a moment, and then I heard at least three quiet voices conversing somewhere from in the Hospital Wing.

At first, their voices were unfocused, but, after a moment, I could understand everything they said, and figured out exactly who the voices belonged to.

"Of _course_ he was given a detention, Sirius," James whispered. "The rest of the years worth, actually, from Dumbledore himself. The teachers were _all _furious. Even Slughorn thought they should take more than 50 points from Slytherin."

"What did Madam Pomfrey say was wrong with her?" Sirius asked. "You caught her; she wasn't hurt, was she?"

"She was hit with a bludger in the ribs, idiot," Remus said. "She has three broken ribs and she probably fainted from shock. Madam Pomfrey can't mend her ribs without giving her Skele-Grow, and she has to be awake to drink it, so her ribs are just wrapped and she will probably still be in shock when she wakes up to take a potion."

"How'd you know? You got here _after _me." I could imagine Remus shrugging.

"It was a bit obvious, I thought." They were silent for a moment, and then James said,

"It felt so _weird_."

"What did?" Sirius asked, confused. I could practically see him and Remus exchanging confused glances.

"Catching her; holding her tightly, close to me, so I wouldn't drop her again."

"You mean it felt like when you're holding Lily? 'Cause you _just_ got her to say yes, mate."

"_No_, not like that. It just felt...like it was my job to protect her. Like – Like she was my sister, or best friend, or daughter or something. _Not_ my wife or girlfriend, Sirius."

"Well, she _is_ your friend..." Remus said tentatively.

"No, it didn't feel just like a friend; or a close friend, even. It felt...different." I could see Remus and Sirius exchange another glance before the next part was said.

"Mate, we should have told you this a long time ago..." Sirius began.

"Told me what?" James asked, somewhat louder. Remus shushed him and said,

"Well, last year, we were looking on the map before Filch got it, and – and we saw what Nicole's _real_ last name is. I'm guessing it was her birth name, before she was adopted."

"Well?" James asked when Remus paused. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut tightly, willing to pass back out right now, but knew it wouldn't happen.

"It was _Potter_," Sirius finished for Remus.

There was an eerie silence that followed his words. And then –

"Nice try, Sirius, but that isn't funny – "

"He wasn't kidding, James," Remus said so quietly I almost couldn't hear him. There was another pause, and then James asked softly, disbelieving,

"You aren't kidding?"

"No – there's no way you could have a long-lost cousin, or – or – or sister, is there?"

"I don't have any aunts or uncles on the Potter side – I'm the last male Potter, at least the last _magical_ male Potter.," James said quietly. I couldn't help but think _You won't be for long. _"Maybe her _mother_ was pureblood and her father was either muggleborn or Muggle."

"I don't know..." Remus said slowly. "If that was so, why did you feel like that when you caught her?"

Of course, _that _was when I decided to pass back out.

* * *

"Why am _I_ always the one that almost gets killed?" I asked.

I had woken up a few hours ago thinking that I had dreamed up the conversation between James, Sirius, and Remus, but then I saw the three of them conversing with Dumbledore in low voices near the Hospital Wing door, and I had grudgingly admitted to myself that it _hadn't _been a dream.

Now, I was sitting in the Hospital Wing, my ribs recently fixed, bored out of my mind and with that annoying "damsel-in-distress" feeling that I hated again.

"It's like the world is out to get you..." Mary said slowly. "It's like the universe _knows_!"

"_Shh!_" I shushed since she had practically yelled the last part, even though we were alone with Kingsley in the Hospital Wing – they had brought by my homework. "Between you and Regulus, I'm surprised you haven't blown it yet." Mary stuck her tongue out at me and Kingsley rolled his eyes.

"Have you and Dumbledore found any way to find the other Toms yet?" he asked conversationally. We had taken to calling Voldemort's Horcruxes "Toms" so that nobody knew what we were talking about. Dumbledore had found the ring – I had warned him not to put it on beforehand – and I had brought him the diadem. He had them hidden in his office somewhere – God knows were in that mess – and we still hadn't found a way to get rid of them.

"Well," I lowered my voice and cast _Muffliato_ so we wouldn't be overheard. "Since I'm going undercover as a Death Eater, we're hoping I can get right up in Voldemort's good ranks like Lucius and Bellatrix and he will give me one, if not both, of them. If not then chances are we – and when I say 'we' I mean Dumbledore – will have to rob Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix's Gringotts account."

"Have fun with that," Mary said sarcastically, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it loudly. Kingsley rolled his eyes again and said,

"We better be going. We have a lot of homework."

"I can tell," I muttered, glaring at the huge pile of books next to the bed.

Kingsley laughed. "See ya later."

**A/N: Anybody else feel like this was a pointless chapter? I guess it was mostly a long way to say that James is noticing that something is strange about Nicole. **

**Soo...please review? I haven't gotten very many reviews – one actually on the story, a few more through private messages – and they are really helpful to me. Even criticism in a review makes my day.**

**As usual, anything you'd like to see happen in the future of this story just tell me in a review, or private message me. I take each one into account and keep them on my mind as I type for any ideas or thoughts about them.**


	14. Voldemort

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR, everything you don't recognize belongs to me.**

**A/N: So, I've changed something in the earlier chapters – Voldemort _doesn't _have Nigini yet. Just telling you so you don't get confused.**

**How come a lot of people favorite/subscribe, but nobody reviews? If you review, I'll recognize everyone who reviews to each new chapter at the end of each one...please? Even through a private message is fine!**

**We finally get to see Voldemort in this one! He might be a little OOC – not too much, though, I hope, you know, nothing drastic – but as we don't see him too much in this chapter, you might not notice it.**

Chapter 13

"Malfoy responded," Selwyn said.

It was three days after I had been released from the hospital wing – five since the Quidditch final. I was sitting at the Slytherin table at lunch – much to my distress – and I had no idea what Selwyn was talking about.

"He's told the Dark Lord we will join him after graduation."

"Who's _we_?" I asked before I could think.

Well, I guess this answered my previous question on how to join Voldemort.

"Lestrange, Rosier, Wilkes, Yaxley, you, and myself," he replied. "You better be okay with that." I shrugged and pushed the food around on my plate. "He said that the Dark Lord is expecting us. And you – " he turned to me " – he seems to expect you to be a spy for him and pretend to be one for Dumbledore." I pretended to hesitate, even though I was actually glad that I didn't have to convince Voldemort to let me be a spy.

I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Whatever."

That Saturday, two days later, I had my final lesson with Dumbledore since there were only three more weeks of school and I had to spend all of my free time studying for NEWTs, even if they didn't _exactly_ count for me this time.

"Dumbledore told me that he needed to find somebody to go with him to get the ring," I told Regulus, Kingsley, and Mary that night in the Room of Requirement. He had also told me that the Trace would break when I turned "seventeen" even if I didn't technically age, but they didn't need to know that part. "I told him I'd go if I didn't have to force that potion down his throat, if _I_ could be the one to drink it, but you all know he didn't agree to that."

"Good," Regulus said, leaning back against the armrest of the couch and putting his feet on my lap – I promptly pushed them off. "I don't want you having _another_ near-death experience."

"I think I've had enough for one lifetime," I agreed. "But in this time, I'm bound to have a few more." Regulus scowled.

* * *

NEWTs came and went in a snap. I found them harder than the OWLs, but still pretty easy – I guess I got my parents' brains. Regulus, Mary, and Frank thought they were rather difficult but that they did okay, and Kingsley and I honestly thought we did great. We wouldn't get our results until about July – they came faster than OWL results.

Gryffindor came in second – behind Ravenclaw, of course – for the House Cup.

"At least we won the Quidditch Cup," Frank said at the end-of-term feast. "That's what _really_ matters." Kingsley rolled his eyes, but knew not to contradict him. Regulus seemed rather glad that Slytherin hadn't won anything.

And then we were on the train on the way back. I had sat in a compartment with Mary, Kingsley, and Regulus – Frank had sat with some Hufflepuff and other Gryffindor seventh years, which was fine by us because we could then freely discuss things he didn't know about nor need to know about.

"I have, officially, joined the Order. Frank and I convinced Dumbledore to let us yesterday. Mary's going to join but not duel, aren't you?" he asked her, giving her a stern look as if daring her to contradict him. She nodded grimly.

"Kingsley and Frank forced me to." I laughed and Regulus said,

"I'm already in it. I told Dumbledore at the last Order meeting I went to that I was in it since Nicole was." I rolled my eyes, but refrained from saying anything.

Before long, we arrived at the train station. Sirius didn't come to pick us up this time because Regulus was just going to Apparate us both to Sirius' house since he already had his license. I wouldn't get mine until September, unfortunately. I just hoped September would come faster than it seemed.

* * *

The day after we got our NEWTs results back – I had gotten Os in everything except Arithmancy, in which I got an E and Regulus had gotten Es in everything except DADA in which he got an O and Charms in which he got an A – I woke up to a large, tawny owl pecking at my window before the sun had even started to rise. I grudgingly allowed it in and pulled a role of parchment off of it's leg, which I unrolled and read,

_Sawyer,_

_You've been to Malfoy Manor, right?_ _Meet me outside of it at the gates tomorrow night, the fifteenth of July, at promptly five P.M. _Make sure_ you are alone. I know you don't have an Apparation license yet, but who cares? I know you know how to Apparate._

_You don't turn 17 until September, right? You can't go on missions for the Dark Lord until you turn 17 because you'll give away our position, but you _can_ join him. He says he needs a spy quickly and since you said you'd be one, I volunteered you._

_Selwyn_

Oh, he's nice; no _How are you?_or even _hello_ or _goodbye._

I grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled onto it,

_Selwyn,_

_I'll be there._

_Sawyer_

Yep, that was all I was going to say.

I tied the parchment to the owl and sent it out the window, watching it's silhouette flying away until I could no longer see it.

I quickly owled Dumbledore, telling him that I would have to possibly arrive late to the Order meeting that night – it was at seven.

That night, I tugged on a black skirt and white, collared shirt (_"Don't wear anything besides black and white and maybe some green,"_ Dumbledore had instructed.). I pulled my hair into a nice twist and tied a green tie into it (_"He always likes you to look nice and professional when you first meet him."_), leaving my bangs down in front of my face. I borrowed one of Regulus Slytherin ties and he helped me tie it, giving me a few words of caution – most of which he had told me several times before.

"Regulus," I interrupted him while he was telling me, once again, not to trust anything they said. "You've told me all of this before."

"Yes, but – "

He cut off as Sirius entered the room, wearing the strangest outfit we had ever seen him wear. He had on a tight, leather jacket, finger-less gloves, and motorcycle goggles on his head with a cigarette held loosely in one hand. He had recently grown his hair out to a little longer than shoulder-length, leading Regulus and I to believe something was wrong, but every time we asked him he changed the subject.

Regulus and I stared at him, shocked. Regulus had stopped tying the tie, and his mouth was open slightly, his eyes wide.

"What?" Sirius asked when he noticed us staring at him. Regulus shook his head, closing his mouth, and I asked,

"What are you wearing?"

"What are _you_ wearing?" he retaliated, putting the cigarette in his mouth, pushing Regulus aside, and taking the Slytherin tie in his hands and finishing tying it for Regulus, who was still shocked at what his brother was wearing.

I rolled my eyes. "It's the first Death Eater meeting tonight. Dumbledore told me what Voldemort likes his followers to wear the first time he meets them. Now tell me what _you're_ wearing." He sighed, leaning against the wall and pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. "And why are you smoking? That's disgusting." I leaned forward and pulled the cigarette out of his hands, putting it out against the wall for lack of somewhere better to put it out. He frowned at me, his hand still in the air, before dropping it and putting it into his pocket.

"I got a flying motorcycle and saw that for Muggles that have motorcycles, this is what they wear." Oh, so the motorcycle caused this.

"_Yes_," I said, frowning. I checked the time quickly; two minutes left. "_But_ you're not a Muggle."

"So? If I'm going to drive it around on the streets like a Muggle, I have to look like one."

"If it's a _flying_ motorcycle, why are you going to drive it around on the streets? Put an invisibility booster in it and you can fly it wherever." He frowned, as if contemplating this, and said,

"That's a good idea...but I'm not loosing the outfit. I like it." I crossed my arms across my chest, giving him a look. "But I'll stop smoking...maybe. It's rather cool." I gave him another look, and he sighed. "_Fine_." Beside him, Regulus made a whipping noise, and Sirius shot him a dirty look. I laughed, checking the time. Less than one minute left.

"Well, I'd _love_ to stay around and chat," I said sarcastically as I pulled on some robes. "Really, I would," I added seriously, "but, unfortunately, I must go." I lifted my hand in a wave, and spun on the spot.

I appeared, after being squeezed through that rubber-like hole, as it seemed, outside of the looming manor. It was even larger outside than it had looked on the inside – I had never seen it from the outside. I glanced at the watch I had stolen from Sirius' room – he had more than enough to not realize it was gone – and saw that it was exactly five, yet, somehow, it seemed like it was the middle of the night – I even thought I saw a moon floating, hidden, in the clouds.

I heard movement, and turned to see a huge, iron gate next to me, at least ten feet tall. And standing opposite me on the same side of the gate was the familiar, tall, thin figure of Selwyn. I would've greeted him, but I remembered more of Dumbledore's words; _"Do _NOT_ be polite _at all_. They won't trust you if you're polite, and they won't be polite to you. But remember that you _must_ treat Voldemort the way all of his followers treat him."_

He had his wand pointed at my chest until he recognized me and stowed it into his robes. He silently turned around and led me toward the gates, where he put his hand up to the gates and rested it on the lock for a moment before it sprang apart on its own.

As he pulled his hand back, I saw a glint of green beneath his robes. I knew what it was, and was hoping dearly I wouldn't have to get one – I knew that only those who Voldemort trusted above most of the others were allowed to get them, but I didn't want to get one tattooed on my arm. Dumbledore had told me that since it seemed I would be trusted above all others – according to the prophecy at least – if I told him I didn't want to scar my skin, he might not make me – even though _I_ found it likely that he _would_ make me.

Selwyn led me toward the familiar manor. I could now make out certain features of it that I knew – the library up in the North Tower, Lucius' office in the far, South corner, the room I had stayed in during my stay on the third floor nearly directly above the entrance hall.

Once inside, Selwyn led me toward the right, toward the South of the building; the part I had never gone in and that I had been restricted from entering. Down the hall Selwyn opened a tall, bronze door and entered a beautifully decorated drawing room, one of many in this huge house. The usual furniture had been pushed up against the wall carelessly, and a long table lined the middle of the room. There were chairs lining it, but only one was occupied – the one at the very end.

Voldemort.

He didn't look quite as snake-like as the Voldemort _I _had known, but he still was quite ugly. He was as thin as a skeleton and his skin was pale white. His long fingers were playing idly with his wand. His eyes were already permanently scarlet and had started to become slit. He still had a nose, but it was quite small, and the nostrils were thinner and longer than they should have been.

I stood up at little taller under his stare. (_"He _loves_ to see fear in everybody, even the Death Eaters, but don't act as afraid as Wormtail. Just a little frightened, because he also values bravery."_) I didn't understand why Voldemort wanted us to fear him, but _not_ to fear him at the same time. I had decided to fear him at first, and seem to get braver and braver until I no longer seemed to fear him.

"Leave us, Selwyn," he said in his high, cold voice that sent a shiver down my spine; I hadn't missed that voice one bit.

"Yes, my Lord," Selwyn said quietly, his voice almost trembling, as he turned and practically ran from the room, as if more afraid of Voldemort than he would ever admit, slamming the door shut loudly on the way out.

I remained silent (_"One of the most important rules; only speak if spoken to!"_) as Voldemort scrutinized me. I shifted my weight, acting as if I was afraid of him, refusing to meet his eyes or look down. One of those acts would make me out weaker, the other stronger, than I wanted to be made out.

"Sawyer..." he said quietly. "You grew up with Muggles, I hear." I nodded once, meeting his scarlet eyes for mere seconds before looking away, toward the wall behind him.

"Yes, sir," I said quietly.

"Yet you hate them?"

"I've seen all of their good and bad qualities, sir – "

"My Lord," he corrected.

" – my Lord," I repeated. "And there are much more bad than good. They are cruel, vial, and wizards are _much_ more worthy than them." I could still feel his eyes on me. He remained silent for a moment, and then he said,

"You are a part of the Order of the Phoenix?" I shook my head.

"No, my Lord, but I _could_ be, if I wanted. It would be only too easy for me to become a part of it."

"Look at me."

It wasn't a question, and only the strong willed could resist the order. It was harder to resist than the Imperious Curse itself.

I looked up and met his scarlet eyes. I knew he was using Ligilimens, and I focused all of my might on keeping him out of the memories I didn't want him to see. Apparently, it worked – thank God.

"Lie to me." I must have jumped; I was so surprised about that, that I opened my mouth and closed it again, still looking straight into his eyes, before managing to say,

"W – What?"

"Lie to me."

"I – I think Mudbloods are equal to purebloods." I could swear I saw him roll his eyes.

"_Obviously_, or you wouldn't be here. Now give me a _convincing_ lie that I wouldn't know was a lie if you didn't tell me."

"I think the Ministry of Magic is a complete waste of time and space and that the Minister is a coward." Well, that was sort of true – it depended on who was running it and what they were doing – but he didn't have to know that.

He paused for a minute and said,

"You're a good liar. You might actually hold up to Dumbledore. We will have to look into that." He paused. "Now, I can't let you in without knowing you are trustworthy."

"And how do you know that, my Lord?"

* * *

I should've known that finding out if I was trustworthy involved the Cruciatus Curse. It was just _too_ obvious _not_ to notice. Yet, somehow, it had slipped my mind. So for about two hours, I was tortured and asked questions on every topic out there – from Muggles, to my childhood, to anything to do with magic.

Now I was practically _limping_ out of the Manor grounds toward where I could Apparate. It was already a little after seven, so I was going to be late to the Order meeting – which Dumbledore had previously told me was no big deal.

I hadn't been forced to get the Dark Mark yet, and I hoped that Dumbledore might have a plan so I didn't _have _to get it. I'd ask him after the meeting tonight.

Once onto grounds that I could Apparate off of, a soothing sensation traveled from my neck all the way down my body to my fingers and toes – good thing that if I could concentrate hard enough, I could perform wandless magic, because I really didn't feel like groping for my wand in the pockets of my robes to use that Soothing Charm or to Disapparate.

With a _pop!_I appeared in Hogsmeade, just outside the Three Broomsticks. It was pouring down rain and, to add to that, very windy. I pulled my robes tighter around me to block out the wind as I trudged toward the lights that I knew were the Three Broomsticks. Once inside, without pulling my wand out, I dried myself and headed up the stairs quickly.

Just my luck, the door to the room that the Order meeting was in had the Imperturbable charm on it, so I had to send my patronus with a message to Dumbledore for him to open the door.

I leaned against the wall of the hall and rubbed the back of my neck. Finally, the door opened and James' unmistakeable head of messy black hair stuck out.

"Hey kiddo," he said. I rose an eyebrow.

"_Kiddo?_" I asked skeptically. "That sounds like something a dad would call their son or daughter, or an older sibling would call their younger sibling." I was tempted to add; _But in that case, we're all good! _But that wouldn't have been a good idea. On another note, Harry had always called me _kiddo._

James shrugged. "Sounded cool before I said it. Plus, you _are_ younger than me."

"By only two years," I pointed out as I followed him into the room, closing the door and putting an Imperturbable Charm on it with wandless magic. James rose his hand to charm it, but I said,

"Don't. I've already done it."

"How?" he asked, bewildered.

"Wandless magic. I'm one of the few lucky people that can control theirs. They say you can only if you have very powerful parents, but I don't." I ignored his look of shock and turned to the people in front of me.

Sitting at the head of a long, narrow table was Dumbledore – of course. Mad-Eye was on one of his sides, and an empty seat on his other. Lined up next to Mad-Eye was Marlene, Dorcas, McGonagall, Sirius, Remus, Peter, a much younger Molly and Arthur Weasley, and Emmeline Vance. Lined up next to the empty seat was Regulus, Kingsley, Mary, Lily, another empty seat I assumed was James', two people I recognized as Gideon and Fabian Prewett, and Frank and Alice next to them. Hagrid sat at the other end across from Dumbledore.

"Hello Nicole," Dumbledore said pleasantly. He gestured to the seat next to him, and I sat down slowly. "I hope everything went fine?" I nodded shortly.

"Could have gone better, I suppose," I said honestly. "But went pretty flawlessly." Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes seemed to x-ray me, but I stood my own – he had, himself, taught me how to do it.

After a moment, he nodded and started telling the Order about something-or-other – something I noticed I already knew and had, in fact, been the one to tell Dumbledore. I noticed Lily kept smiling randomly and shooting me glances, as if wanting to get my attention.

Right after the meeting, I told Dumbledore that I needed to talk to him, but before I could get a private word in, I was bombarded by Lily.

"Nicole – Nicole! Guess what?"

"What?" I said distractedly, trying to keep my eye on Dumbledore around Hagrid, leaning so far to the side that I fell into one of the Prewitt twins – they looked as much alike as Fred and George, and looked a lot like Fred and George would.

"James proposed!"

**A/N: Haha, cliffy – well, sort of. **

**So I had a bad day today, and you should review because reviews all make my day better :) Please? You can be brutally honest if you want, any review makes my day!**


	15. Dark Mark

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR, everything you don't recognize belongs to me.**

**A/N: I really, _really_ need moral support to continue this. So _please_ review because otherwise I will end up with writers-block and I won't update for a long time, if ever again. So please review!**

Chapter 14

"_James proposed!"_

In that second, I forgot everything that I had been thinking, everything that had happened to me that day, and everything that I was going to talk to Dumbledore about.

I felt my mouth drop and turned to her, shocked and ecstatic all at once.

"He – He proposed?" I asked slowly.

"Don't get any ideas," Regulus said from behind me, causing James and Sirius to burst out laughing uncontrollably, Lily and Remus to laugh lightly, and me to scowl at him before turning to Lily.

"When are you guys getting married?"

"August sixteenth. I know it's only a month away – exactly a moth, actually – but Alice is helping me get it all together. Since my parents died last year," her voice became grave, "and Petunia probably won't show, I have convinced Remus to walk me down the aisle." She smiled over at Remus, who smiled back. "Sirius is best man, and Peter is the only groomsman while Alice is maid-of-honor, and Mary is the only bridesmaid. It's going to be small – just friends, and family in James' case."

"Only my parents," James said. "But they don't know yet, so shh!" I rolled my eyes, and suddenly, off to the side, I saw Dumbledore heading toward the door.

"Hey," I said, turning away from them and toward Dumbledore. "I'll catch up with you in a minute. I need to talk to Dumbledore." I left them, shocked, behind me as I walked quickly and caught up with Dumbledore as he was about to head down the stairs. "Hey, Dumbledore!"

"I've told you to call me Albus," he said calmly, yet without turning around or even stopping.

"Albus," I corrected myself. "I have a question."

"Well ask away," he said, stopping finally and waving a hand when I didn't say anything more.

"Do you think there is a way so I don't have to get the Dark Mark? I don't think he will just _let_ me not get it, and I _don't_ want to scar my skin." Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"Ah, I've given this a fair bit of thought, and I think I've finally found a way."

"Really?" I asked excitedly. "What is it?"

"After doing a fair bit of research, I believe I have found the exact spell he uses to put it on. After a bit more research, I found a way to put the _exact _same spell on, but so that it doesn't cause pain – only creates a tickling sensation – when he calls and will come off – as long as you know the exact incantation – painlessly. I know for a fact that Voldemort doesn't put the marks on his followers on his own but that one of his followers does."

"Where are you going with this?" I asked, confused.

"Well, if I can put the real but fake Dark Mark on you, and you Confound the Death Eater who will put it on you, you can make them think that _they_ put it on you. Mind you, it will have to be a powerful Confundus Charm, but I believe you are capable." I smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you! Thank you – oh my day just turned around!" I had completely forgotten about the earlier events, until –

"He used the Cruciatus Curse on you, did he not?" My smile turned to a frown in a snap.

"Erm, yeah, he did," I said, looking down and shifting my feet, my face heating up. "I'm going to go back to the room – Lily was just telling me about her wedding!" I tried to sound enthusiastic as I practically ran back to the room, where James was trying to get Lily to stop talking about the wedding and Regulus looked awkward and annoyed.

"Sorry 'bout that!" I said, hoping to cover up the look I was sure was in my eyes. "Had to talk to Dumbledore 'bout something." Regulus narrowed his eyes at me, but Lily didn't care.

"You'll be able to come, right?" she asked worriedly. "I hope you don't have plans already. I would feel bad if you wanted to come but already had plans."

"No, no, we're free," I said, answering for myself and Regulus. "And we will make sure we _stay _free." Lily smiled a dazzling smile – the one I had been told I had. She pulled me into a hug and said.

"Now I'm even more excited than I was before!" I smiled – at least _something_ was going smoothly – my mom was actually glad to have me coming to her wedding.

* * *

The next time I went to see Voldemort – two weeks later – there was a Death Eater meeting. Narcissa and Lucius were there, as was Bellatrix, who, I saw, was now dating Lestrange, Snape was there, as were all of the gang of Slytherins from my year and the year above us.

Voldemort ended up torturing an innocent Muggle family just for fun at the beginning. It took all of my strength to keep my face from showing the look of disgust that I knew was bound to come out eventually, but I kept quiet as many of the other Death Eaters jeered and several were called forward one by one to take their turns at torturing them, making a game of it and trying to make them scream the loudest.

"Sawyer," Voldemort said sharply quite suddenly. The five Muggles were huddling, scared for their lives, in a corner, shaking uncontrollably. I jumped at being addressed and said quietly but in a firm voice,

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Come here." I stepped toward him until I was towering over the cowering family. The youngest, a little girl who could not have been six yet and was bleeding, whimpered."You seem to be enjoying yourself silently." I seemed to be _enjoying _myself? He must be stupid. "Take a turn."

I swallowed and turned to the little family. The girl's brothers were pushing her behind them, furthest into the corner, and the parents were shielding all three of them from view.

I turned to the dad. I knew Voldemort couldn't see my face, so I mouthed the words "I'm _so _sorry," which confused him greatly, before quickly focusing intently and pretending he was Voldemort. Pouring all of my hatred for Voldemort and all of the Death Eaters in the room, I said venomously, "_Crucio!_"

The dad screamed louder than any of them have so far, and I was sure my face was contorted with disgust and anger, trying to force all of my hatred and anger at Voldemort into it. The pain must have increased, because his screams subsided to gurgling, and the little girl started to bawl loudly.

"Stop it!" the oldest boy who looked about my age and reminded me greatly of Harry pleaded. "Stop it, please!" And I did. The dad lay panting on the ground, and the little girl cried louder.

"Impressive," Voldemort praised. "Especially for a first try. You will be useful." He turned to the crying girl. "Get rid of her. She's no fun, and is a nuisance." I bit my bottom lip and turned my wand to the little girl. The boys and their mother pushed her further back, excluding her from view, and I said,

"Move it." When they didn't, I had to use the Imperious Curse to move them one by one until the little girl stood below me bawling. I focused, once again, on all of my hate toward Voldemort and said, "_Avada Kedavra!_" There was a flash of green light, and the little girl was gone.

* * *

After all of the family had been killed by various Death Eaters, Voldemort dismissed everyone – except, just my luck, me.

"Sawyer, you are very talented to cause that much pain your first try." He paused and sat down on his thrown-like chair. "Tell me the extent of your abilities."

"I don't really know, my Lord, but I know that I can perform wandless magic." He stopped twiddling his wand and looked me in the eye. I felt as if he was reading my mind, and figured that he probably was.

"For your age, that is impressive – for anybody, that is impressive." He paused. "You could come in handy. Tomorrow, same time as today, be here to have Snape administer the Dark Mark." I nodded.

"Yes, my Lord." Of course, with my luck, Snape _would_ be the one to administer it.

"You're dismissed." I turned on my heel and walked swiftly out of the room, stepping over the younger brother's body with a look of disgust on my way out.

I Apparated straight to Hogsmeade, where I sent a patronus message to Dumbledore asking him to meet me in the Three Broomsticks as soon as possible. He showed up not five minutes later and sat down across from me, smiling happily at Madam Rosemerta and with his usual twinkle in his eye – _how and why was that woman still up _this_ late? _I wondered.

Finally, he turned to me.

"Good – " he checked his watch " – morning, Nicole. It is quite early, I might add. One in the morning. What brings you here?"

"He wants me to get the Dark Mark tomorrow at ten. We need to put your plan into action."

* * *

An hour later, I Apparated back to Sirius' house with a new mark on my left forearm.

Dumbledore had been right – it didn't hurt. It merely tickled my arm, almost enough to make me laugh out loud. I honestly hadn't cared if it hurt, I just didn't want it to be permanent. All I had to do was Confound Snape the next day, which would be easy because I wouldn't even have to pull out my wand if I could control my wandless magic, which I usually could.

I walked groggily into the drawing room, more than half asleep at such a late hour, and nearly stomped up the steps. I threw open the door to my room, shutting it quietly behind me, and pulled the curtains back on the bed.

Sitting on my bed with his back against the headboard and arms crossed was –

"Regulus!" I screeched, grabbing my chest, pretending to be more afraid then I actually was. "You scared me half to death!" I sat down next to him, kicked off my shoes, and laid my head on his shoulder. I expected him to slink his arm around my waist or shoulders like he always did, but when he didn't I looked up at him. "You okay?" He hesitated, and then said angrily,

"No! I am _not_ bloody okay!" I backed away from him slightly and opened my mouth to say something, but he continued before I could. "You tell me you will be back before midnight, and you aren't back until two! _Two!_ Two hours later! I was going _crazy!_ You can ask Sirius!"

I didn't know what to say – I was taken aback. I hadn't realized that Regulus cared that much about me until then.

"I thought that Voldemort had found out that you were a spy! That he had tortured or killed you!" I looked down, ashamed that I hadn't somehow contacted Regulus and told him that I was okay and was running late. I felt my face heating up, but I didn't know why – I never blushed.

Regulus grabbed my hands in his and I couldn't help but look up at him. Our eyes met and I couldn't look away.

"I'm not mad, Nick," he said quietly. "Just – next time, please, _somehow_ warn me when you are going to be late." My throat was dry, so I merely nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry," I said finally, looking back down. "I – I wasn't thinking." He let go of my left hand and moved his hand up toward my face, but stopped suddenly. I looked back up at him and his hands moved toward my left hand. He pushed the sleeve of my robes up, and recoiled when he saw the Dark Mark.

"Nicole!" he reprimanded. "You – you – you _let_ them put this on you?" I shook my head, but he didn't notice. "Is this why you were late?"

"Yes, it is," I said bravely. "But you've got it all wrong."

"Have I?" he asked skeptically, looking up at me. I nodded.

"Yes. _They_ didn't put it on me – _Dumbledore_ did. I visited him afterward and had him put it on me, but not the same way they do. It's removable and painless now. All I have to do is Confound Snape so he thinks that _he_ put it on and I'm good to go." I smiled slightly at him. He continued to frown down at the Dark Mark, but then he pulled my sleeve back down and pulled me back toward him, finally wrapping his arms around my waist. I laid my head on his shoulder again and closed my eyes.

I realized, then, that I felt as protected there with Regulus as I had when I was with my parents after I had "died" in my other life. It was a strange feeling that I had only felt once before in my entire life, but it was also a _great_ feeling.

"Nicole?" Regulus whispered in my ear.

"Hmm?" I mumbled, too absorbed in my thoughts to say much else.

"I love you."

My heart fluttered at hearing the three words that I had heard a million people say to each other, but had only been told a few times by Remus, Harry, and Fred in my past life – my adoptive parents had never said it to me, although they had said it a million times to their _real_ kids.

I looked back up at Regulus, and our eyes met once again. It was the first time he had said it, but I now realized that it had been true for a long time.

"I love you, too."

He leaned toward me and captured my lips in a kiss. I kissed back whole-heartedly and felt his lips part and his tongue enter my mouth. Even if I wanted to, I didn't have the heart or strength at that moment to resist.

His hand traveled up from my waist and entangled in my hair. I ran my fingers up through his hair.

Everything seemed to go in a blur, and the next thing I knew I was pulling back so I could breathe. Our foreheads were still touching, and our noses were nearly hitting each other. I slowly opened my eyes and found Regulus' boring into mine. We both smiled simultaneously at each other, before I snuggled into his side, pulled the covers up, and fell almost instantly asleep against him.

* * *

"Before midnight?" Regulus asked, giving me a look that told me that I better not promise that if I didn't plan on keeping the promise.

"I make no promises," I replied smoothly. "But I'll try my best." Regulus smiled and gave me a quick peck on the lips before I turned and Apparated to the outside of Malfoy Manor. The familiar mansion loomed in the distance, and I heard a rustle of leaves somewhere nearby. I turned sharply and pointed my wand to the dark spot in the bushes where I had heard it. I saw the form of a person and continued to point my wand at them until they stepped into the moonlight and I recognized them.

"Snape," I said curtly, stowing my wand back into my robes.

"Sawyer," he said coldly. "We are to do this out here so you can get in without help as I have – previous arrangements." I wanted to know what his previous arrangements were, but didn't ask. "Let's get this over with." He pulled out his wand, stepped toward me, and grabbed my left wrist, pulling it upward and rolling the sleeves up.

His wand hovered above my wrist and his face hardly conveyed how shocked and confused I knew he was. I quickly cast a silent and wandless Confundus Charm and he then shook his head and said,

"There." Then, with a swish of his cloak, he turned on the spot and disappeared suddenly.

I put my hand up against the lock on the gate, which sprung apart instantly, and soon found myself in the drawing room. Once again, the long table was out, but this time there were no Muggles in sight. About half of the table was filled and everybody was silently staring at something-or-other.

"Nicole."

Somehow overnight, I guess, he had decided I was trustworthy enough to be called by my first name.

Voldemort motioned to a seat between Lucius and Yaxley three seats to his right, which was still pretty close considering how long the table was.

The meeting was long and boring, mostly about attacking Muggle towns and trying to gain control of the Ministry.

Once we were dismissed and I was on my way out, I heard my name spoken from the other side of the room in his cold voice.

"Nicole."

I turned on my heel to face him and said,

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Come here."

I came toward him and soon stood behind the seat directly to his right, where Bellatrix had sat.

"Yes, my Lord?" I repeated.

"You say you can become a spy for me?" I nodded curtly. "Join the Order as soon as possible. Report to me as soon as you have." I nodded again and replied,

"Of course, my Lord." I turned to head back to the door.

"You are not dismissed." I turned back to him and said,

"Sorry, sir."

"You are to make them believe that you are really on their side and are a spy for them. _Play your part well_, for if you fail, I won't be so forgiving." He added the last part so coldly, even _I_ was frightened of him, and I had refused from the beginning to become afraid of him. I nodded once again, and he said, "_Now_ you are dismissed." I nodded in a farewell and left the mansion as quickly as possible.

As soon as I was back, I saw that Regulus had fallen asleep over a desk doing some work for the Order and Sirius was out with Remus, James, and Peter – it was a full moon that night. I considered owling Dumbledore, but then I realized that it could easily be intercepted and instead sent him a message with my patronus. It only took him five or so minutes to respond, his silver phoenix floating into my room almost eerily.

"Nicole – he was quick to trust, wasn't he? I guess since he believes you cannot perform Occlumency, he thinks can just read your mind to see if you are trustworthy or not.

Anyway, I believe you should wait two or three days before you report back. If you are too fast, he will believe something is going on, and if you are too slow, he will think you don't put him first. So two, three days should be just right. Have a good day!"

The phoenix disappeared slowly into the sky, leaving only the moonlight to light my room.

I left my room and woke Regulus up from his uncomfortable position over his desk. He leaned backward over the back of the chair, stretching, and then said,

"When did you get back?" I laid down on his bed loudly and said,

"Just a few minutes ago."

"What time is it?" I checked Sirius' watch.

"Eleven-thirty."

"Any more Muggle torturing today?" he asked, lying down on the bed next to me. I put my head on his chest and shook my head.

"Nope. Just discussions over Muggle attacks and gaining control over the Ministry – which they are nowhere near doing, by the way. Oh, and I'm supposed to become a part of the Order and pretend to spy for Dumbledore."

"What else is new?" Regulus asked, causing me to laugh slightly at him and hit him lightly upside the head. "Like mother, like daughter."

**A/N: Review? Please? Pretty-please with sugar on top?**


	16. Good and Bad

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Sorry, I had to repost this chapter because I needed to change something. It's only changed a bit, but enough so you will probably be confused if you read the next chapter without rereading the end of this chapter. Once again, sorry for the repost!**

Chapter 15

Time flew by. In what felt like mere hours, I was sitting in a light blue dress on August 16th next to Regulus in the second row, just behind who I realized were my grandparents, on a sunlit cliff in south Whales overlooking the ocean. It was a beautiful day – the sun was shinning, the temperature was perfect, the sky cloudless.

James was standing at the front of the mere six rows of chairs, smiling proudly and talking to the wizard preacher who was performing the ceremony. A harp sat in the corner playing on its own, causing me to sway slightly with the music. Dumbledore was sitting directly behind me, and was the first to notice the music get louder and the first to turn and see Mary and Peter walking arm in arm down the aisle. Though they were smiling, I noticed that Peter's didn't quite reach his eyes. Next came Sirius and Alice, who were both smiling even larger than Mary and Peter.

And then the harp started to play the bridal march, and we all stood up and turned to face the small cottage behind us. The doors burst open as if by magic – which it probably was – and Remus and Lily came around the corner.

Remus looked as proud as any father could on his daughter's wedding day, and Lily looked so stunning in her long white dress and her hair in soft curls that even _my_ mouth dropped, and I could have sworn I saw Dumbledore drop his as well. As a joke, I turned to Regulus and, when I saw his mouth down as well, gave him a look. He didn't notice at first, but when he did he quickly snapped his mouth shut and I giggled – yes, I did say _giggled_, even though it isn't like me – at him.

The ceremony was short and sweet and very beautiful. The reception lasted until midnight, and I must have had a few too many because the next day I woke up with a severe headache and no memory of the reception, only of the wedding. Regulus had the same issue, and, though he wasn't hungover, Sirius seemed really depressed about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he slumped down on the couch next to me and turned on the TV – he liked Muggle equipment – looking very glum. He didn't answer. "Sirius?"

"Nothing the fuck is wrong," he said, finally, snottily.

"Sirius, what's going on?" He sighed and then said,

"It's James." I hid my shock pretty well, I think, because he didn't seem to notice as he looked down at me.

"What about him?" I asked somewhat quieter than usual. Sirius mumbled something incoherent, and I said, "What?"

"I'm jealous of him, that's what!" he said suddenly, punching the couch. "He is married, and I don't even have a girlfriend!"

"Who wants to be dating in a time like this? It's hard. Believe me," I said, emphasizing on the last two words. "They rushed into getting married. I know why. It's all this uncertainty with Voldemort; people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they are rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over." I had nearly directly quoted Mrs. Weasley the summer before my fourth year, when she was complaining about Bill and Fleur getting married so soon.

Sirius frowned at me, but didn't comment.

"So," he said suddenly after a moment. "How has spying for Dumbledore been?"

I thought back to the past month. A lot had happened for just one month. Supposedly under Voldemort's orders, I had gotten back with Regulus, become closer to Sirius and anybody else who it was possible to get closer to, and become higher up in the Order. Several Death Eaters feared me as much as they did Voldemort himself, and I was now his "right-hand-man," as they say. A few times I had gone with him to attack Muggle villages, but rarely performed curses myself, and had even gone with him – in Death Eater cloaks, of course – to battles between Death Eaters and the Order – of course, when he wasn't looking, I would shoot a curse here and there at an unsuspecting Death Eater; I hadn't been caught yet.

And did I mention that he would often make provocative suggestions to me? Well, he would, and it freaked me out. I had never heard him say such things, and it was quite creepy. But I had to play along, and respond with provocative answers as well.

Dumbledore had gotten the locket – I don't know who he took with him, if he took anybody, to feed him the potion, but he had gotten the locket some how. This only left the diary and cup and a way to destroy them, which were still far and few.

"Good," I answered Sirius. "Just swell." Of course, that was quite sarcastic.

Sirius stared at me before saying,

"I'm glad." He must not have noticed the sarcasm.

Not a whole lot happened for a while.

In just two months, I had gotten so high up in the Death Eaters that I was practically as worshiped as Voldemort himself, and my orders were followed without question like his own. Only two Death Eaters had a problem with it: Bellatrix, who had been tortured by Voldemort on multiple occasions for threatening or yelling at me, and Snape, who didn't actually _say_ that he had a will problem with it, but I could tell by his eyes that he did. He would never be stupid enough to mention it, though.

Narcissa had announced her pregnancy of a boy on September eleventh. Apparently, there was a difficult potion you could make and have a pregnant woman take to see if she was having a boy or girl by the effects of it during any time of the pregnancy, and they had taken it within the first week of pregnancy. They also had already said they were going to name him Draco Lucius Malfoy. It may have just been me, but Narcissa looked disappointed when she said she was having a boy.

There were several more murders that I had to witness – especially after my birthday since I was then "seventeen" and could perform magic – including those of my grandparents on the Potter's side in early September.

James seemed to becoming suspicious of me – not that I was from the future, but that I was really on the Dark side and was a spy for Voldemort. He always seemed to be questioning everything I told Dumbledore. And I had also found out the Voldemort still had possession of the cup and diary – I had seen them at the Manor before.

The next exciting thing that happened didn't happen until mid-November. Two things happened the same day; one good, one bad.

The first came quite early in the morning. Sirius was in a great mood, better mood than he had been in for a while, even though he had been in a continual good mood for nearly two months. He wouldn't say why if we asked him, only that "we would find out eventually." Regulus and I should have been able to guess, but we didn't have the faintest idea, even when Sirius announced that Lily and James were coming over for breakfast that Saturday.

We all sat around the table laughing, eating the food that Lily had brought over – Sirius, Regulus and I were all terrible cooks, even with magic – when suddenly Lily said,

"Regulus, Nicole, James and I have an announcement to make." _That's_ when I realized what was going on, and it was even more obvious when she put her hand on her stomach and glanced toward James before saying, "I'm pregnant." I feigned shock by first dropping my mouth and then smiling.

"That's wonderful!" I exclaimed, leaning over and hugging Lily lightly as she was sitting right next to me. "Congratulations!"

Regulus wasn't so good at acting. He didn't pretend to be shocked at all, and then kept stealing glances at me until I kicked his shin under the table and he got a grip on himself.

"Congratulations, Potter," he said, patting a smiling James on the back. "You're going to have a baby – a baby! Blimey!" I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time because when he said that I was reminded immensely of Ron, but held my emotions in.

"And – we haven't told anybody this yet," Lily continued, as she and James turned to Sirius. I smiled at Regulus, knowing what was coming, "if you would, Sirius, we'd like you to be the Godfather." Sirius was shocked; so shocked, in fact, he frowned, his eyes darting between Lily and James, but only for a moment before he broke out in a huge smile and said,

"It would be my honor." Lily and Sirius smiled at each other for a few moments before I cleared my throat and they both turned to look at me.

"Do you have any names picked out?"

"Well, for a girl we are thinking either Ava, Ellie, or Amelia, and for a boy we are thinking either Harry or Jamie." I smiled.

"Those are beautiful names. I particularly like Harry." I saw Regulus smile out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help but smile as well.

"Isn't that your brother's name?" Sirius asked, seemingly confused. I laughed slightly.

"Yes, but I still love the name. And _not_ because it was my brother's name. I don't really even like my brother, honestly." Regulus laughed.

"I can tell why." I shot him a dirty look but he just smiled annoyingly at me.

So my mother was pregnant with my older brother, and I was, technically, seventeen. That's not something you hear or see everyday – probably once in a blue moon, as the saying goes – maybe even less than that.

That was the good thing. It would keep me happy until the bad thing happened. And the bad thing happened later that night.

I was at Malfoy Manor, alone with Voldemort in the same drawing room as usual discussing new torture tactics for Muggles and prisoners, and ways to break into and gain control of the Ministry of Magic.

Again, I should have known this was coming someday sooner or later – and probably sooner rather than later.

We had been silent for a few minutes while I observed a map plan of how to invade the Ministry. I didn't know where Voldemort had gone, but that was common. He was so quiet that I never knew where he was in the room.

Then suddenly I felt something on my neck. I narrowed my eyes for a second before I realized what it was and my eyes widened in fright. No, I wasn't afraid of torture, but I was afraid of _this_.

I turned around to be sure that it was what I thought it was, and found myself face-to-face with Voldemort – okay, so if you want to be technical, we were face-to-chest because he was much taller than me, but since he was looking down at me and I was looking up at him, we were sort of face-to-face.

I found myself unable to move, and in a blink of an eye I found myself against a wall with Voldemort leaning over me, a hand on either side of my shoulders. And then, before I could take a breath or even try to get away, I found my eyes an inch away from his, and then I felt his lips on mine.

My eyes were wide. He closed his eyes and turned his head so our noses were side-by-side, so he could reach my mouth better.

I didn't kiss back. Why would I? He was a freak.

But, of course, when he noticed I wasn't kissing back, he pulled back. His scarlet eyes met my hazel ones, and I couldn't look away. Instead, I stared straight into his eyes, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"What was that, Sawyer?" he asked maliciously.

Uh oh, he had taken on calling me Sawyer, I knew something was up.

"Just shock, is all," I replied smoothly after a moments pause.

Then, of course, he kissed me again. I could taste his mouth, but the taste was foreign to me. His arms slipped from next to my shoulders down and they wrapped around my waste, pulling me closer to him. I refused to put my arms around him, though, and kept them by my side. I kissed back this time, but only slightly – enough so he would think I was kissing fully.

Finally, Voldemort pulled back. He stared at me for a few moments before removing his arms from around my waist and walking swiftly out of the room, which had started to mean that I was dismissed.

I leaned against the wall before my knees gave out and I landed, hard but quietly, on the wooden floor. I saw that it was two o'clock already and that Regulus would be freaking out about where I was, but I didn't care.

I leaned against the wall, rubbing my knees where they had hit the ground. Bruises were already forming.

I pulled my thighs up to my chest, wrapped my arms around my knees and put my forehead against my knees.

I don't know how long I sat there. Normal girls would be crying – but, obviously, I wasn't normal. So I just sat there. Not a thought ran through my mind, and I could swear I was sitting so still that I stopped breathing and my heart stopped beating.

Finally, I found enough strength to stand up slowly, leave the mansion, and Apparate back to our house.

When I arrived, I saw that it was, somehow, already past five o'clock in the morning. All of the lights in the house were ablaze, and I saw more than two people moving about inside of it. I walked slowly toward the door and pushed it open just as slowly.

As soon as it was closed behind me, I was pulled into a sudden hug. I didn't have to look to know that it was Regulus, but I didn't have the strength to hug back.

The things that happened next went in a blur. There were faces and voices, faces and voices that I had seen and heard before but, for my life, couldn't recognize or put a name to. I was grabbed by the shoulders by who I guessed was Regulus. He shook my shoulders, not enough to hurt, but enough to get my attention.

"Nicole – what happened?" he asked urgently. "Nothing could have caused you to be five hours late." I opened my mouth, but no words came out, not even any sounds. Regulus gripped my shoulders harder, and I whimpered involuntarily.

"Regulus," a voice that I knew well but couldn't recognize said. A blurry figure, one of the several grouped around us, stepped toward Regulus and pulled his hands off of my shoulders. Then he grabbed my shoulders as well and led me somewhere that I felt I should recognize but didn't. I heard the sound of legs on a chair scraping the floor and was pushed gently into a chair. "Nicole," the same voice said gently. "Nicole, can you tell me what happened?" I tried to speak again, but, for some reason, couldn't, so I just shook my head.

"Nicole, please," the first voice that I had christened as Regulus' said, almost begging. "_Please_."

I swallowed, but still didn't say anything.

It was then that I realized I could still taste Voldemort's mouth. Some more people said somethings that I didn't listen to. I was sure I was starting to make a disgusted face as I started to slowly realize what had happened. My stomach started to churn. If I had eaten less than 12 hours before, I would probably retch.

My eyes started to focus and my ears started to register gradually, and I could soon put a name with every person that I could see.

Regulus and Dumbledore were right in front of me, arguing about something or other, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Remus, and one of the Prewett brothers were on their right and on their left were Lily, James, Mary, Kingsley, and the other Prewett brother. A very pregnant Molly and Arthur were standing behind Lily and James with five children around them. I could tell who each one was; Bill was standing beside Arthur, Charlie was standing next to his older brother, Percy was holding his father's hand between his mother and father, and Molly and Bill were each holding one of the twins, who had to be less than two years old. Bill and Charlie, though I had never met them before, looked worried about me themselves, and Percy was observing me through narrowed eyes. Even at four years old, he still was _observing_ me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them again to find everybody staring at me again, as they had been looking at Regulus and Dumbledore earlier. They must have noticed my eyes become focused, because I knew it was obvious.

Regulus knelt down in front of me and took my hands in his.

"Nicki," he said, knowing that it would get my attention. I looked down at him and his eyes met mine. "Nicki, what happened? What did he do?"

I finally found my voice, but didn't answer as a wave of shame came over me. I turned away from him, my cheeks burning. I now knew why girls felt ashamed to tell anybody after they had been raped.

"I – er – nothing," I said lamely, refusing to meet his eyes. "It was, er, just a long meeting." I knew that it wasn't convincing.

"Yeah, right," he said skeptically. "One – you just stuttered and you never stutter – and two – you wouldn't come home from a meeting looking like you do."

"What do I look like?" I said without thinking, meeting his eyes again. He frowned.

"Huh?"

"What do I look like?" I repeated. When everybody just stared at me, I stood up, pushed Dumbledore and one of the Prewett brothers out of the way, and made for the bathroom, where I looked in the mirror at myself.

I nearly gasped at how horrible I looked.

The bottom half of my hair had fallen out of the high ponytail it had been in and it was completely frizzy, my bangs were plastered to my sweaty forehead, I had makeup running down my face as if I had been crying, the black ribbon in my hair as long as my robes had disappeared to Merlin knows where, and the black tie I had been wearing was loose and was almost completely untied.

I sighed, pulling the rest of my hair up, casting a silent, wandless spell to remove all of the makeup, and tightened the tie before I went back out into the drawing room.

"What happened to your robes?" Charlie asked quietly as he was the first to notice me coming back in.

"Charlie!" Molly said, but I shook my head, sighing.

"It's okay, Molly." I looked down at Charlie. "And I don't know hun," I said. "I think I lost them while I was Apparating back here." His eyes widened.

"You can Apparate?" he asked, shocked. I laughed and nodded.

"Yes sir, I can. And believe me, it isn't as exciting as it seems. In fact, it's very annoying." He continued to stare at me in shock as I went and sat back down in the seat I had previously been forced into.

"Are you going to tell us now?" Regulus asked impatiently. I shook my head, yawning and realizing for the first time how tired I was.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p' and smiling slightly at him. "Maybe later."

"Well," Dumbledore said, obviously trying to keep the forthcoming argument from happening. "While you are here, if I could talk to you all, it's very important."

"What is it that you could need to talk to us about at this hour?" James asked.

"It's about two things, really. One is called a horcrux, the other is a prophecy." I saw him glance my way when he said the word prophecy.

"What about the children?" Molly asked, motioning toward the five children. I stood up.

"I'll watch them. I already know that what Dumbledore has to tell you, I already know." I avoided meeting Dumbledore's eyes.

"Are you sure, dear?" Molly asked. "They are a handful." I laughed, looking from one child to the next.

"I'm sure I can handle them." I took the twin she was holding from her and said, "Come along, children. Have you ever watched a Muggle TV?"

"What's that?"

"Oh, you'll just love it."

**A/N: I feel like this took me forever to write. Things in the story will probably start to go slower now rather than trying to speed up time like I have been. **

**So I'm tired of trying to beg you to review, so I'll just ask: _PLEASE _review? Okay, so I guess that sorta fits into the category of begging, but I don't care. _PLEASE?_**


	17. Doubts

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I had to repost the last chapter due to a change in it, sorry about that!**

**It has now been proofread!**

**Thanks for the reviews: XoXoRaineyOxOx, Hannahzzz, Spring Butterfly, and Anne – even if your's was written a while ago. You have no idea what they mean to me!**

Chapter 16

I led the Weasley kids toward the upstairs drawing room and closed the door quietly behind me.

"Are you guys tired, or do – ?"

"No!" Bill, Charlie, and Percy answered quickly. I couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, then we can watch some TV. Maybe they will have something good on the wizard channels." I added the last part to myself. 'Wizard channels' were five Muggle news channels that were charmed so that when wizards watched them, they would see wizard shows and news but Muggles would never know.

We made ourselves comfortable on the couch with the twins asleep in a crib in the corner that I had conjured up from a chair. Percy was sitting on my lap with his thumb in his mouth, and Charlie and Bill were on either side of me, both of them leaning against me with their feet draping over the armrest of the couch. There was a wizard cartoon on that kept the three entertained while I watched the twins breathing slowly, not really thinking about anything and instead just spacing out.

When the cartoon was over and nobody had come to get us, a wizard show that they shouldn't be watching came on so I turned the TV off. I conjured up another bed and set a now sleeping Percy onto it before sitting back down between Charlie and Bill.

"So," I said. "How old are you two?"

"I'm almost nine!" Bill said excitedly, holding up nine fingers.

"I'm almost seven!" Charlie said, holding up eight fingers, imitating his brother. I smiled and pushed one of his fingers down lightly. He frowned, but didn't say anything.

"How about Percy and the twins?"

"Percy's three and the twins are one. And Momma's pregnant with a boy to be named Ronald, who is due in March."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Charlie asked. I nodded.

"I have an older brother. But I don't talk to him."

"Why not?"

"He ran away when I was younger. Haven't seen him since then."

"That's sad." I glanced down at my watch, but didn't register exactly what time it was. Sometime past six.

"I think you two should try to sleep for a bit. It's getting late." Charlie started to pout, and Bill opened his mouth to say something, but I kept talking. "I'll tell you a story. A good one. If you promise to at least _try_ to sleep."

"Fine."

I helped Bill get comfortable on the couch and Charlie next to Percy before asking,

"Have you ever heard of the Deathly Hallows? Or the Tale of the Three Brothers?" They shook their head, and I smiled. "Good..."

After reciting to them the Tale of the Three Brothers, they had both fallen fast asleep. I smiled and pulled out the Extendable Ears that I had made – Fred and George had told me how to make them – and stuck one end in my ear, sending the other end downstairs.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord has arrived...Coming from a time and place none know...Sister of he who had vanquished the Dark Lord before...Still a child, daughter of children themselves...The Dark Lord will trust her above all others, but she has defied him many times, and will many more...If she is not the downfall of him, he will never fall...the one...with the power...to vanquish...the Dark Lord...has arrived..._"

So Dumbledore must have just finished telling them about the Horcruxes, now they were talking about the prophecy. How was he going to explain this one?

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Sirius asked after a moments pause.

"It made no sense!" James stated.

"Do you have any idea who it was made about?" Molly asked, ignoring Sirius and James' comments.

"Oh, I _know_ who it was made about. This will come as a shock to those of you who don't already know, but it was made about Nicole."

There was an eerie silence.

"What?" one of the Prewett brothers asked (Fabian? It sounded like him, but I couldn't tell.) "How is that possible? That prophecy made no sense!"

"It is very possible if you know the whole story, Fabian," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Then tell us the whole story!" James demanded.

"Unfortunately, at the moment, I cannot. But as you already know, a part of it has already come true. She is trusted by Voldemort above all others and has defied him many times before."

"If she isn't the downfall of him, he will never fall?" James asked, sounding annoyed. "Damn."

"What?" Lily asked, confused.

"I just don't understand how Dumbledore knows she can be trusted." So my father didn't trust me. Pleasant.

"If you knew the whole story, James, you would understand."

"Then tell me the whole story!" Dumbledore sighed. I could imagine him pacing.

"I told you, I cannot tell you. Not at the moment. But I promise, I would make the Unbreakable Vow and say the same thing even if under Veritaserum, that you will find out eventually. There is no way you won't find out."

"How is she coming from a time and place none know, and sister of he who had vanquished Voldemort before?" Gideon asked. He sounded suspicious.

"I think it means her brother has defied Voldemort before, but I cannot be certain." Dumbledore paused. "Gideon, if you and Fabian would be so kind as to stay here for a moment. The rest of you may go. Sirius, if you would, go over to James and Lily's house for the night so I can speak to Regulus and Nicole privately. I will know if you do not go."

I quickly pulled the Extendable Ear back up and tucked it into my robes just as the door to the drawing room opened and Molly and Arthur came in quietly.

"Hello dear." They stopped when they saw the children all asleep. "How did you do that?" I laughed quietly and said,

"I don't know, honestly. Fred and George fell almost right asleep, Percy fell asleep watching the telly, and Bill and Charlie fell asleep as I told them a story."

"The telly?" Arthur asked as he picked up the twins gently, looking at the TV.

"Now is not the time, Arthur," Molly said, picking up Percy. "Do you mind if we take these three and come back for the other two?"

"Not at all."

Once all of the Weasleys were gone, I headed downstairs in a kind of sleep trance. I had never been so tired in my life.

"Nicole," Dumbledore said as I entered the downstairs drawing room. I grunted a reply and slumped down next to one of the Prewett twins on the sofa. "Gideon, Fabian, this is big news so be prepared."

"I think we already know," the one next to me, who I recognized as Fabian because he was wearing the watch that would later be Harry's, said.

"There is only one way that the prophecy can be true and mean Nicole," Gideon, who was standing next to Dumbledore, supplied.

"She's a time-traveler," they said at the same time. Dumbledore smiled.

"I should've known you two would figure it out. Have you figured out when she is from?"

"Sometime in the 90s, that's for sure," Gideon said.

"Maybe 1995?" Fabian asked.

"Try 1997," I corrected jokingly. "And I must say, you two remind me _exactly_ of Fred and George."

"You know them in the future?" Gideon asked, surprised. I laughed, nodding.

"'Course I do. Even if they were in their fifth year when I started Hogwarts, I helped them with all of their pranks. They were, possibly, my best friends. Yes, I was a prankster. Just like my dad is...and was."

"Who's your dad?" Gideon asked. "Sirius?"

"Or James?"

"Or Remus?"

"Or Peter?"

"James," I answered once I figured they were finished.

"Why do you talk about everything in past tense?" I sighed, and then told them of how I was stuck in this life until Voldemort was killed and even then I was, sort of, stuck in this universe and not my own.

"What were we doing in your future?" Fabian asked. I looked down, and they must have realized the solemn look in my eyes. "We were dead, weren't we?" I nodded slowly.

"A group of Death Eaters including Antonin Dolohov killed you guys. But I heard you fought bravely and died like heroes."

"When?" Gideon asked quietly. I swallowed.

"Sometime after July of 1980 and before Halloween of 1981. I was never told the exact date."

"Well we will have to train up so we can beat those Death Eaters." I laughed slightly, looking back up.

"So your brother killed Voldemort in your time?" I nodded before launching into the full story of my future.

* * *

I spent the next several weeks at James and Lily's house almost all day every day with Lily while James and Regulus were out on Order business that she couldn't do because she was pregnant and I couldn't do because it would blow my cover. I only went out to go to Order or Death Eater meetings or to go home, and she only left to go to Order meetings. I still hadn't told anybody about the happenings at Malfoy Manor that day.

So we were stuck in the same house almost all day for a month discussing and doing whatever came to our minds.

"Do you want to have a boy or a girl?" I asked her randomly one morning in mid-December that I had spent at her house after an episode of morning sickness.

"I would be happy either way. James says he would rather have a girl, although I think he would be just as happy if we found out that we were having a boy."

"Why does he want a girl?" I asked. That greatly shocked me, as I had expected him to want a boy so he would be like him, or so that he could teach him all of the pranks as he probably thought a girl wouldn't want to do that.

"He says that a girl is more likely to turn out like me and he wants the kid to be like me rather than him, but I told him that it won't matter and a boy could easily be just like me and a girl like him." I couldn't help but laugh at the irony – I turned out like James, and Harry turned out like Lily, the opposite of what James had expected.

"I've been told I am exactly like my father and that my brother is a lot like my mother. _I_, personally, think it doesn't matter at all." Lily shrugged, but didn't say anything. "Have you and James kept up with the same names or changed your minds?"

"For a boy we have definitely decided on Harry, at least for now, and we have changed from Ava, Ellie, or Amelia for a girl to either Natalie or Danielle. Probably Natalie. But it is subject to change, and quite likely to." I laughed.

"I couldn't imagine deciding on a name for a kid. It will affect them their whole life, you know? I would probably name my kids, if I ever have any, after my parents – if I knew their names – or my brother, Godfather, or even my brother's Godfather. They all mean a lot to me. No matter how many times I say I don't like my brother, well, I mean, he _is_ my brother, so I _do_ love him, you know what I mean?"

Lily nodded, understanding, as she met my gaze. Her familiar, almond-shaped, green eyes met mine, making me think of Harry again and making me miss him all over again.

"I know exactly what you mean. My sister and I – er – well, let's just say that we aren't on speaking terms anymore, so to say." I smiled sympathetically at her.

"So I've heard. I'm sorry about that." She shrugged.

"It isn't your fault. There is nothing you or I or anybody could do about it. She's a prick. She married a whale, and is also pregnant, which I wouldn't know if I didn't keep tabs on her." She blushed slightly as she added the last part.

"Don't worry, I would keep tabs on my brother too if I knew where he was. I've tried to contact him before but whenever I send him an owl, it always comes back with the same letter. I'm starting to think that it is possible that he is dead." How did I come up with _that _cover story? Because it was completely random.

"Maybe he's abroad or something," Lily supplied helplessly.

"Dumbledore _did_ say that he thought that the part of the prophecy that said that my brother had 'vanquished the Dark Lord' only meant that he had merely _defied_ Voldemort before. And if he _has_ defied Voldemort, then it is quite likely that he is dead." I sighed. "Not that it is a big deal to me. It seems to me like he has been dead for the past several years. He probably wouldn't want to talk to me even if he was alive."

Lily leaned over and put her arm around me soothingly.

"I don't understand why he wouldn't want to. You're a great person. You're risking your life for millions of innocent people, doing the most dangerous job the Order has to offer, it is even more dangerous than those jobs on the battlefield. Your cover story has to be _perfect_, you have to be able to perform Occlumency _perfectly. _Just to protect people you don't even know. I don't know what is wrong with your brother."

"He's stuck-up. He thinks everything is about him. I don't know where my Godfather went wrong – "

I was interrupted by a crash from the entrance hall. Lily and I both sprang to our feet, drawing our wands and pointing toward the door to the hall. I sent a quick "_Homenum Revelio_" to see if any people were there. Silent red, green, and blue sparks erupted in front of me.

"There's three people there," I told Lily.

"James, Sirius, and Remus?" she said hopefully, although we both knew it was hopeless. They always told us when they were here.

"I doubt it."

Together, we walked toward the door and into the hall. We could hear muttered voices from the entrance hall, just a stones throw away.

"Stay back," I told Lily when we were near the door. She did so unwillingly, but did so nonetheless. I stood behind the doorway silently, before I peered slowly around it to see who was there.

Three hooded Death Eaters stood arguing silently over something or other. I knew I had to act before they realized I was there, so I jumped out and shouted,

"_Stupefy!_" They spun quickly, and one of them blocked the spell effortlessly.

When they saw it was me, they all froze. I kept my wand out, glancing maliciously from one to another until they suddenly spun on the spot and disappeared.

"How did you do that?" Lily asked, shocked.

"They fear me as much as they do Voldemort himself. They must have thought I was here alone because they know they are in trouble if they curse me."

Suddenly, there was a tickling sensation on my left forearm. I glanced down and saw the Dark Mark gleaming, black and foreboding, on my arm. I sighed.

"Guess I must go." I smiled slightly at Lily before Apparating directly to the drawing room in Malfoy Manor, where Voldemort sat alone at the end of the table.

"Sawyer, why did you order my Death Eaters to retreat?" he asked as soon as he noticed me.

"I didn't," I said. "They retreated as soon as they saw me. If I had known what they were there for, I would have helped them."

"Don't lie to me." I stood up a little straighter and lifted my chin a little higher at that. I knew that anger had flitted across my eyes because the one time I _did_ tell the truth, he didn't believe me.

"I'm not." Then, at the last moment, I decided to add, "Why do you suddenly not trust me? Have I done something to wrong you? Because if I have, please enlighten me."

"Don't take that tone with me," he said venomously. Obviously he didn't like my cheek. "And I do still trust you, you just looked like you were lying." Not knowing what else to say, I said,

"Am I dismissed?" He nodded wordlessly, and I left quickly.

* * *

If I thought that having the Death Eaters leave without me even having to tell them to would make James trust me more than he had before, I couldn't have been more wrong.

The next morning I arrived at James and Lily's house to find James and Sirius discussing quietly in the drawing room. They obviously didn't realize that I was there yet.

"They left without her even _telling_ them to?" Sirius asked, shocked.

"Yes! They obviously trust her, and I don't. There's something about her that is just _wrong_. Whatever story she told Dumbledore must be convincing, though, to get him to believe her – "

I was about to announce my presence when there was a knock at the door. I turned and opened it quickly, feeling James and Sirius' eyes on my back as I did so.

Dumbledore stood outside in deep purple robes, looking as strangely mysterious as ever.

"Nicole, Sirius, James," he greeted each of us in turn. "Nicole, if I could talk to you privately."

"Sure," I said quickly, stepping out and closing the door behind me. "What's up?"

"We have a problem," he said quietly as he started to walk slowly around the house. "I was discussing some things with Minerva this morning at the Three Broomsticks, when Sybil interrupted and went into a kind of trance." He paused and stopped walking, turning toward me. "She made the prophecy about Harry. And, once again, Snape was listening. And, not only did he hear _that_ prophecy, but he heard the other one as well this time."

**A/N: Cliffie, again! Please review with any comments, predictions, or things you would like to see happen in the next chapters!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I couldn't come up with a good chapter name for this chapter - that's one thing that I suck at. If you have any cool ideas, leave a review with it in it, if you get the best one I will recognize you as the one to come up with it.**

Chapter 17

I was speechless. Of _everything _Dumbledore could have said, I did _not_ expect _that_.

"But – But – I thought that _I_ had to kill him."

"Ah, but the prophecy about Harry doesn't necessarily say that one must die at the hands of the other. At least _this_ one didn't. I quote, 'The one with the_ power _to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and neither can live while the other survives …' It says that Harry has the _power_ to kill him, but he doesn't _have _to. I think this one was just made in case something happened to you, although I am unsure." He paused. "I know he is going to go after Lily and James as well as Frank and Alice."

"Wait," I said, realizing something. "Alice is pregnant? I wasn't told!"

"Of course she is. Neville was older than Harry by a day, was he not? You should have been able to figure it out. They are also engaged to be married in February." Dumbledore continued walking around the house again. I followed suit. "But that is not the issue at hand. We need to protect both couples. I will make sure that they _don't_ use Peter as their secret-keeper, for if they do we know what will happen."

"So who is going to be the secret-keeper? I don't want somebody _obvious_ to do it, like Sirius. I'd gladly do it if James trusted me enough – " The familiar tickling sensation traveled up my arm, and I glanced down. "You have _got_ to be kidding me." I looked back up at Dumbledore. "I have to go."

"I'll be waiting for you at my office. Send me a patronus when you are in Hogsmeade."

I nodded and Apparated straight to the Drawing Room once again, where Snape and Wormtail were both standing facing Voldemort on his thrown-like chair. Snape stood tall and proud whereas Wormtail was cowering near the wall. They all turned toward me when they heard the _pop_ of my arrival, and Wormtail's eyes widened in horror. I couldn't help but smile slightly at his fear.

"You called, my Lord?" I asked, turning back toward Voldemort.

"We have an issue."

"What is it?"

"A prophecy. It says, basically, that the one I trust above all others must be the downfall of me, or I will never fall. You know I trust you above all others – "

"If you are insinuating that I will kill you or am really on the Light side, you must be off your rocker," I interrupted. "You know I would never – "

"We have been through this before," he said. "I know that, I was just informing you. But might I ask – Coming from a time and place none know? Daughter of children? Sister of he who had vanquished the Dark Lord before? What does all of that mean?" I feigned shock and confusion and shook my head.

"I – I don't know, sir." He nodded once.

"That's not the only prophecy. Another one was made. About a boy born at the end of July whose parents have thrice defied me. He has the power to vanquish me, apparently, and I will mark him as my equal. That is all we know of. Unless, of course, you have heard more?" He seemed to think that I knew more, but I shook my head again.

"No, sir, I do not. I did not even know of the last prophecy that you believe is about me." He nodded again.

"I need you to find every wizard child who is due at the end of July and whose parents have thrice defined me. Bring me the list as soon as you know." I nodded, but didn't leave as I hadn't quite been dismissed yet. "Nicole, this here is Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, although I am sure you already know that. He is being administered the Dark Mark today. He and you are going to be spies for me, and Snape here might be joining you as well." He turned to Wormtail. "You are dismissed Wormtail. Wait outside." Wormtail scurried from the room quickly.

"My Lord?" I said tentatively once he was gone. "I already know of two wizards due at the end of July whose parents have thrice defied you; Frank and Alice Longbottom's son, and Lily and James Potter, although they are unsure if they are having a boy or not yet." When I said Lily's name, Snape's eyes clouded over and Voldemort seemed to perk up.

"Lily and James Potter, you say?" I nodded. "That's it. I'm sure of it."

"My Lord? Are you sure?" I asked, pretending to be suspicious of why he thought that. "He is only a half-blood, after all. The Longbottom child will be pureblood." Voldemort shook his head.

"I'm certain. It's the Potter's child who I am after. I'll take him out first, then the Longbottoms'. Might as well wipe away the Mudblood mother and blood-traitor father, in the process – "

"NO!" Snape said suddenly, jumping into the conversation.

"What was that, Snape?"

"Please – have mercy for the mother, for Lily, in exchange for the child. Please!" Voldemort seemed to consider, before saying slowly,

"Because you brought this information straight to me, I will have mercy on the Mudblood, although I have no idea why you would do that or what she is to you." He turned to me again. "Nicole, you are dismissed."

I went straight to Hogwarts, as I had told Dumbledore I would. I told him that Voldemort was certain, already, that Harry was the one. And then suddenly a snowy owl that reminded me of Hedwig came through the window and handed Dumbledore a letter. He read it through quickly and said,

"Grab my arm. I will Apparate the both of us to the place Snape asked to meet us. I am thinking this is when he is going to ask me to protect Lily." I grabbed his arm and he turned, Apparating us toward the hilltop that I had seen in the pensive when Harry had.

"Don't kill me!"

My eyes landed on Snape, who was on his knees in front of us. I caught his wand as it flew toward me.

"That was not our intention."

Snape seemed shocked at the _our_ and not _my_, and his eyes met mine.

"You agreed to come alone!"

"I never agreed to anything. Besides, Nicole won't harm anything."

"She will tell the Dark Lord!"

"No, I have a feeling she won't. So, Severus, what message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No – no message – I'm here on my own account!" Snape's eyes still refused to leave me as he wrung his hands, continuing. "I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please – "

"What request could a Death Eater possibly make of me?" Dumbledore asked maliciously.

"The – the prophecy...the prediction...Trewlawney..."

"Ah, yes. How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort? Oh, wait, I already know," he turned to me. "Everything he heard, am I right?" I nodded.

"That is why he thinks it means Lily Evans!" Snape said.

"It spoke not of a woman – "

"You know what I mean! He is going to hunt her down – kill them all – "

"If she means so much to you," Dumbledore said, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the sun?"

"He has," I informed him, meeting Snape's glare.

"You disgust me," Dumbledore said, contempt, to Snape. "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?" Snape glanced from me to Dumbledore and back again and again until he finally said,

"Hide them all, then. Keep her – them – safe. Please."

"And what will you give in return, Snape?" I asked.

"In – in return?" he asked, his eyes meeting mine again. "Anything." I turned to Dumbledore, the same ghostly smile on his face that I knew was on mine. After a moment, I turned back to Snape, who was watching this exchange silently.

"Your service is what we need," I said.

"Nicole can't relay _everything_ to me because, even if she is the most trusted, she isn't told _everything_ that he plans. We could use another spy – "

"You're kidding yourself if you think _she_ is working for you," Snape said, turning to Dumbledore fully. "She's on the Dark side."

"I have good reason to believe she is on my side, Severus," Dumbledore said simply. "You will tell Voldemort you are a spy in the Order and will take the opening for Potions master, as Slughorn refuses to come back even for the rest of term, to 'remain in the loop.' Perhaps, if I trust you enough, eventually I will tell you exactly why I trust Nicole so much." He turned back to me, and I reached out and handed Snape's wand back to him.

"If you tell Voldemord, I will deny it, and he will probably torture you for _lying_ to him so."

"Nicole, tell Lily and James," Dumbledore said. "I have...other business to attend to."

I nodded once, and with a final glare at Snape, I turned on the spot and Apparated back to James and Lily's house. Sirius was now gone, James was doing something or other upstairs and Lily was waiting patiently on the sofa.

"Lily," I said, smiling at her as I sat next to her. "I have something important to discuss with you and James."

"Is it about the Order?" she asked. I was about to reply not exactly, but instead I said,

"Yes, it is."

Once James was called down and was seated on Lily's other side, I said,

"There was a prophecy made. About a boy due at the end of July to parents who have thrice defied Lord Voldemort."

"What about him?" James asked, setting one hand on Lily's stomach and holding her hand with the other.

"He has the power to vanquish Voldemort." Lily gasped, and I saw her tighten her hold on James hand. "This wouldn't be such a big deal, if Se – a Death Eater hadn't overheard the prophecy and relayed everything that he heard to Voldemort." Lily and James paled, and they were squeezing each other's hands so hard that they were cutting off circulation.

"What does this mean?" Lily croaked finally.

"If you have a son, then he and Frank and Alice's son are being hunted down, as are the four of you. Dumbledore and I suggest that you use the Fidelius Charm. Have you heard of it?" They both nodded.

"We'll do it," James said quickly.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Promise me something," I said quietly.

"What?" Lily asked curiously.

"_Don't_ use Peter as your secret-keeper."

"Why not?"

"This makes me sound racist, or something, but you can't use Remus because of his, erm, _condition,_" I said, ignoring James comment.

"How did you know – ?" James asked, suddenly alert. I shook my head.

"Not now, James, we have more pressing issues at hand," I said. "You can't use him because the charm won't work if you do. You shouldn't use Sirius, it's too obvious, Voldemort would know right away, and Peter, well, just _don't_ use him – "

"_Why not?"_ James pressured. I sighed.

"Peter's a spy for Voldemort." There was complete silence, until –

"That's crazy!" James yelled. "I always _knew_ you were full of lunacy, and now you're making this stuff up about my friends – "

"Why would I make something like this up?" I said loudly, having a hard time remaining calm and not yelling at him that he doesn't even trust his own daughter. "I _know_ he's a spy, he was about to be administered the Dark Mark this morning. If you don't believe me, next time you see him, look at his left forearm. You will see _this_." I pulled my left sleeve up to reveal the Dark Mark there. James and Lily seemed to gasp as one. "Only it will be_ real _and _not_ administered by Dumbledore," I added as an afterthought.

James opened his mouth to say something, but, as if on cue, the door to the house opened and Remus, Sirius, and Peter walked in. They stopped when they saw me, and I stood up quickly.

"I was just leaving." I turned back toward James and Lily, "It's a very complicated charm. Dumbledore or I will have to administer it. Think about who you would like to be your secret-keeper. Dumbledore himself volunteered, just so you know, as did I but I doubt you will want to use me as James doesn't seem to trust me." I headed toward the door, which wasn't something I usually did, and deliberately got Peter's left sleeve stuck on the clip on my robes, grabbing it and pulling it up as I walked by. He tried to pull it back down before it was seen, but it was too late –

"What's that on your arm, Pete?"

"No!"

"Peter!"

"I don't believe it!"

I dropped Peter's sleeve and couldn't help but throw a smirk at James over my shoulder, who was looking, thunderstruck, from me to Peter before I Apparated back to our home.

I found Regulus asleep on his bed with an open book on the pillow next to his. I put a bookmark in it and set it on his bedside table before climbing into his bed beside him, pulling the covers up, and closing the curtains. I curled up against him, with my back against his chest, and his arm moved to drape across my waist.

"Mmm...hey babe," he muttered, kissing the top of my head.

"Did I wake you?"

"Mmm hmm," he muttered. "But that's okay." He yawned and then said, "I haven't talked to you for a while. How have you been?"

"You're right," I replied. "We haven't talked for a while. At least not how we used to. I've been…okay, I guess. Nothing _amazing_ but nothing terrible has happened."

"That's...good I guess. What'd you do today?"

"You really wanna no?" I asked. I felt him nod from behind me. "It's a long story."

"I've got time." I sighed before telling him the short version of what had happened that day.

"Long day, huh?" I nodded. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Are you ever going to tell me what happened that day that you didn't come home from the Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor until five in the morning? Why you were so late?" When I didn't say anything in reply he continued, "You of all people should know that secrets are just a hassle. Just tell me. Please. Get it off of your chest. I can help you with whatever it is." I sighed and said, stalling,

"It's really not that big of a deal. I overreacted – "

"I don't care, tell me," Regulus said. I sighed again and, after a moment, muttered almost incomprehensibly,

"He kissed me. Twice."

"Huh?"

I spoke louder, but it was still barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Voldemort kissed me twice."

Silence.

The silence lasted for so long that I thought Regulus had fallen back asleep on me, until suddenly he asked, sounding furious and deadly,

"Against your will?"

"I never _told_ him to, but never pushed him back or kissed him back either." Another pause, sorter this time, followed my words, and then Regulus said,

"I'm going to _kill _him." I couldn't help but laugh; I should've known he would say something like that.

"No, I think that's my job," I said.

"And I would do it if I could." He pulled me closer to him, kissing the back of my head again. "And I don't think you overreacted." I smiled at him.

"Thanks Reg."

And with that, we both drifted off into a nice, comfortable sleep...

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**Sorry that it's a little short – but I hope the quick update made up for it!**

**I'm really excited about the next few chapters – they are the ones I've been waiting to write since I started this story. **


	19. Potions, Sand, and Anger

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Another fast update! Woo! **

**This chapter was really fun to write, and the next few – or several – are going to be just as fun!**

**Thanks for the review: ladida – Thank you so much! And I'm not sure if it will work out well, but I think I have a plan for what to do with Regulus. I have a few different scenarios, but I think I know which one I'm using.**

Chapter 18

Over the next month, I worked with Severus – who was no longer _Snape _to me – so much that I could soon call him a friend. I knew that he was jealous of me because I got to stay with Lily and help her with her pregnancy often, but he never said so. Within two weeks, Dumbledore and I had trusted him enough to tell him the truth. To my surprise, he had believed us straight up.

"I _knew_ there was something _different _about you," he had said. "I always knew you reminded me of _somebody – _it must have been Lily."

Voldemort had finally entrusted the cup to me, telling me to "guard it with my life and keep it safe." Of course, right after that, I gave it to Dumbledore, who put it with the rest of them.

We had finally convinced James and Lily to use Dumbledore as their secret-keeper and had performed the charm the same night we had told Snape. James seemed to become even more suspicious of me with every passing day.

Peter was cursed by several hexes and jinxes when Sirius, Remus, James, and Lily saw his Dark Mark before they called Dumbledore, who sent him to Azkaban for the time being – so many curses, in fact, that I wouldn't have recognized him if they hadn't told Dumbledore and I who he was when they brought him to his office. Severus and I had a good laugh about that the next day while on Death Eater business, joking about how Wormtail would probably be crying and pleading not to be taken there.

* * *

"You know, you don't have to be so gloomy."

It was late one night in mid-January. I was with Severus in his office at Hogwarts. I had come to visit him out of boredom while home alone. He was grading some papers while I was looking around his office, with the gruesome pictures that I remembered from the hundred times I had been sent to his office in my time already on his walls and vials of potions and jars of ingredients on shelves around the whole perimeter of the room and sitting on his desk.

"Did you really expect me to put up pictures of flowers and butterflies?" he asked, not even glancing up at me.

"Of course!" I said in mock-seriousness. "Isn't your living quarters full of them?" He stuck his hand up and stuck the middle finger up, flicking me off. I pretended to gasp. "How dare you!" He rolled his eyes, but kept reading the paper. I couldn't help but laugh.

I continued my walk around his office and found, in a back corner, a steaming cauldron. The shelves lining the walls around it were filled with random ingredients, most of which I had never even seen before or ones that were only in very complicated potions that I had only done a few times and had completely failed at.

"What's this?" I asked, peering over it, trying to see if I could tell what it was by the thickness, color, anything. Severus glanced up briefly to see what I was talking about, and answered, turning back to his essay,

"It's a potion that Lily and Potter made." No matter how many times I had begged, he continued to call James "Potter," Sirius "Black," and Remus "Lupin," and James and Sirius still refused to believe that he was actually a good person and on the Order side, constantly tantalizing him and calling him Snivellus immaturely – Remus, at least, accepted that he _might _really be on the Light side instead of the Dark.

"The one that will tell them the sex of the baby if Lily drinks it. It has to sit for two weeks. They're coming to finish it up and have her drink it on the first." I leaned further over it, looking into it, trying to see past the steam. "I'd get back if I were you," Severus added, but I didn't listen. I squinted, leaning even closer. Just as I lost my footing and almost fell into it, a spurt of steam came up into my face, pushing so fast and hard that I was, quite luckily, thrown backwards. Loosing my balance, I fell backwards onto my butt.

I jumped back up quickly, coughing and spluttering, waving the steam away from me even though I was already several feet away from it. I saw Severus watching me with amusement.

"I told you to get back." I glared at him but didn't reply as I had noticed a small vial of what looked like sand sitting on one of the shelves. I picked it up, examining it. It seemed quite like normal sand to me, and I pondered why the potion needed sand in it.

"Is this regular sand?" I asked, confused.

"Time sand," Severus explained shortly. I looked over at him and found his eyes squinted and on the vial in my hand.

"Why does the potion require – ?"

"Because the potion basically tells the future," he answered, looking back down at the essay. "You only put a pinch in it, but without it the potion would be useless and, quite possibly, harmful to the drinker. Time sand is some dangerous stuff." I turned my eyes back to the sand. After staring at it silently for a moment, I got an idea.

"How much of this would have to be put in a potion to send a person about 17 years into the future?" I asked. I felt Severus' eyes on me, but I refused to turn away from the sand.

"Maybe about a spoonful...don't get any ideas, Nick, it's _very_ dangerous – "

"I'm not going to _do_ it," I interrupted him. "I just thought, you know, as a _precaution_, I should ask." I paused. "Do you mind if I – ?"

"Go ahead, take some," he answered before I could finish my question. "I don't need to use it for any of my classes anyway, it's way too advanced for them. You can have, er, half of the vial if you want." He motioned toward some empty vials on the shelves. "Take one. But, please, remember that it is very dangerous to use it. Only do so if you have to."

I picked up one of the vials, pulled the stopper out of the empty and full vial, and poured half of the sand from the full one into the other empty one. I put one down on the corner of one of the shelves – so I could put the stopper back into the other one – just above the cauldron. I pocketed the one with the stopper, leaving the other one sitting, stopper-less, on the shelf for a moment, and turned back to Severus.

"_You_ actually _care_ about me?" I asked him jokingly. "You don't want me to do something dangerous?" He looked back up at me and blinked.

"'Course I do. You're my friend."

"Don't let Regulus hear you saying that, Sev, he will get the wrong idea," I joked. Severus started to smile, but then it turned quickly into a frown. I knew exactly why.

There was a tingling sensation in my left forearm. I pulled my sleeve up and saw that the usual green mark was a much darker green than usual, and was turning steadily darker.

"You too?" I asked Severus, pulling my sleeve back down. He nodded, and I sighed. "Guess we better be going, then."

The unclosed vial of time sand lay forgotten on the shelf above the smoking cauldron.

We walked silently to Hogsmeade, where we Apparated to the dining room of Malfoy Manor. We found a very pregnant Narcissa inside, sitting on a sofa and reading a book.

"Narcissa, we were called here. Where is the Dark Lord?" Severus asked. Narcissa looked up, as if noticing us for the first time, and said,

"There is a battle going on at the Ministry in the Atrium. Dumbledore himself showed up, as well as practically the whole Order. You two are supposed to put on your robes and go help quickly."

We both changed into our Death Eater robes and were sure to make sure that our faces were covered so we wouldn't be recognized. We then Apparated to the Ministry's visitor entrance, being as we couldn't Apparate straight to the Atrium, and climbed out into the midst of a battle, whipping our wands out quickly.

There were flashes of all colors everywhere. At least one hundred people were milling around so much and so fast that it was next to impossible to tell if they were Death Eaters, Order members, or Ministry workers. There were yells, crashes, and screams all about us. In one second, it seemed that at least twenty people around us went down.

As soon as we were noticed – which was as soon as we arrived – Severus and I had to block several nasty looking curses coming our way sent by what looked like another Death Eater. We stayed side-by-side as we made our way through the crowd, not engaging in any fights but merely blocking any spell coming toward us.

We made our way to the main battle in the middle, where Bellatrix, Lucius, and other, covered Death Eaters were fighting off James, Sirius, Regulus, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Marlene, and Dorcas in a circle around Voldemort and Dumbledore. I noticed that Dumbledore was talking, probably tantalizing Voldemort. I only caught a few of the words that he said, but I had heard enough to know that he was enraging Voldemort – which was also obvious by the obvious hatred and viciousness in Voldemort's eyes.

Severus and I slipped into the inner circle around the battle, somehow unseen by the Order members, joining Bellatrix and Lucius and helping block any and all spells, but sending very few out, and only those so that we didn't seem conspicuous.

I saw a green light headed toward a startled looking Marlene. Luckily, she was fairly close to where I was standing, and I sent a Stunning spell toward her, which hit her before the Killing Curse, knocking her backwards. The curse went right over her and hit a big Death Eater behind her, who tumbled to the ground, unmoving.

The Death Eaters were obviously loosing – only Lucius, Bellatrix, both Lestranges, Selwyn, Severus and I remained against at least fifteen Order members and at least twenty Ministry members. This obviously hadn't gone as planned for Voldemort.

I heard Voldemort yell something about retreating, but none of the other Death Eaters seemed to hear him, and the fight resumed.

A jinx zoomed right past my head just as I sent a Stunning spell in Kingsley's direction, hoping to hit him before the Killing Curse that was headed toward him did – which my spell did. The wind from the jinx blew my hood back, and I heard many of the Order members who saw me gasp.

I wasn't quite sure what to do until I heard Voldemort yell,

"Nicole – It's as good a time as any to blow your cover!"

I turned to Dumbledore, who nodded almost imperceptibly, and I sent a nasty _looking_ spell – but which was really just lights – toward Mary, who dodged it easily.

Spells seemed to come at me from all direction then. While I was blocking a spell from Remus sent in my direction, I heard a familiar voice – James' – yell,

"_Immobulus!"_

I didn't have time to react – I was frozen before I could block the spell or even knew what was happening.

Severus sent a curse toward James, but must have deliberately missed and hit Avery instead. I would have laughed at the stunned look on Avery's face when he was hit by a spell sent by a fellow Death Eater if I wasn't immobilized.

I noticed that it was Voldemort's turn to tantalize Dumbledore. Luckily, though, Dumbledore knew how to keep his cool as Voldemort teased him.

"The two people you believe are your most trusted servants, Dumbledore, are really on my side."

"I'm afraid, Tom, that you are terribly mistaken."

"You're wrong, old man!" Voldemort laughed. "They are obviously my servants, I don't know why you can't see that!"

Just then, there were several _pops!_and more Ministry officials appeared. Voldemort's eyes dilated nervously.

He yelled to retreat again, louder this time, and he and all of the Death Eaters disappeared, practically as one, with a _pop_! Only Severus remained, as did the unconscious Death Eaters on the ground.

"Round them up!" Dumbledore yelled, and James came over toward me. He plucked my wand out of my hand, pocketed it, and removed the spell. He then grabbed my wrists, pulling them behind my back, and tied them tightly together with rope that appeared to materialize out of nowhere. I saw Severus remove his hood and go over to talk to Dumbledore out of the corner of my eye. James kept pulling the rope tighter and tighter until it cut off my circulation and I could have sworn I felt a cold, wet liquid running down my arm.

"Don't cut off my hands, James," I said to him. He stopped tying it for a brief moment at hearing his name, but continued quickly.

"I _knew_ you were really on his side!"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, confused.

"You were fighting for him, just now!" I sighed; I should've known.

"Did you actually see me fire any _nasty _curses at any Order member?" I asked. But before James could respond, Dumbledore yelled,

"Apparate them all to my office!" James grabbed my right forearm roughly and Apparated us straight to Dumbledore's office, where the Death Eaters were already tied together, wandless, and where Regulus, Severus, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Kingsley, Mary, Mad-Eye, the Prewetts and Weasleys, Marlene, Dorcas, Frank and Alice all stood around watching Dumbledore and/or the group of Death Eaters.

As soon as James and I arrived, Dumbledore waved his wand, and the ropes fell off of my wrists, dropping to the ground at James' feet.

"What was that for?" James asked, shocked, as Regulus moved himself from Yaxley's struggling form in the circle of Death Eaters and came to my side. I rubbed my blood-stained wrists, and Regulus healed the wounds with a flick of his wand, removing the blood as well. "Sawyer is obviously on Voldemort's side – !"

"Nicole is on our side, James," Dumbledore corrected calmly. "I've told you before, I have great reason to trust her."

"Then tell me that reason so I, too, can trust her!" James yelled.

"At the moment, I cannot, James," he said, remaining just as calm as before.

"If you weren't going to have her arrested, then what was the point of bringing her here?"

"So that way we look like we are doing something," Dumbledore answered. "We have to pretend to have her as a prisoner, at least for a while. Maybe then she can _break out. _But if we catch his most trusted servant, then he should be at least a little nervous that we could catch him as well."

"Can I have my wand back, James?" I interrupted impatiently, tapping my foot and holding my hand out toward James. He didn't reach into his pocket to pull out my wand, though.

"No, _Sawyer_, you cannot. You'll probably use it to escape and go back to your _lover_." I couldn't help but laugh.

"_Voldemort_? My_ lover_? Damn, you are insane!"

"I've seen the way you look at him!"

"There's a fine line between love and hate," I said, getting very frustrated with him and wanting nothing more than to smack some sense into his head. "It may be hard for your oblivious mind to tell, but I _hate _him. Now can I have my wand back?" James still didn't give it back. I sighed, annoyed.

"You were shooting curses at Order members – "

"I Stunned Marlene, Kingsley, Arthur, and Gideon to keep them from getting hit with Killing Curses or Dark Curses headed their way. I would knock them down, and the spell would go over the top of them – three times out of four, it hit a different Death Eater. Now _give me my wand_."

He still refused.

Annoyed, I used my wandless magic to call my wand to me. James tried to grab it before it got back to me, but it was out of his reach to fast. I caught it swiftly in one hand.

"I don't see why you wouldn't just give it back," I muttered, still annoyed.

"Because," James replied, eyes narrowed maliciously. "I don't trust you, Sawyer."

That was when it really hit me; James – my _father_, my _dad_, the one who I wouldn't be alive without – _hated _and _distrusted_ me_ for no reason_. It crumpled my heart, and I was sure that it was obvious in my eyes that that had bothered and hurt me.

"James!" Lily reprimanded him quietly, probably noticing the hurt in my eyes.

I turned swiftly, my long ponytail whipping my face, and headed toward the door to Dumbledore's office. Once I had my hand on the doorknob, I turned back around quickly, my hair whipping my face again. I masked the hurt in my face with anger well enough for only Dumbledore, Regulus, and maybe Severus.

"Luckily for me, unfortunately for you, it isn't _your_ opinion that matters," I spat venomously. "And nobody asked you, _Potter_."

I turned around swiftly again, pulled the door open, and ran out, slamming it as loud as possible behind me.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinion! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want!**

**My failed attempt at humor made me laugh, when I was rereading it, at how horrible it was. Oh well, maybe it will make you laugh because it is so terrible as well!**


	20. Time Sand

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Sorry that it's so short (only 5 pages out of my usual 7 or 8), it makes me frustreated as much as it does you, I didn't want to stop it already but I really think this was a good place to cut it off and didn't know how to make it any longer! I'll try to make up for it by making the next chapter long and make it a faster update!**

Chapter 19

I was later told exactly what had happened in Dumbledore's office as soon I had ran out...

There was complete silence for a moment, and then Regulus suddenly ran after me, slamming the door even louder than I had deliberately – he was even more angry at James than I was.

Severus, who knew that I was forever afraid of Lily or James telling me exactly that, suddenly and in a swift movement grabbed his wand and pointed it at James, who looked bewildered. He started to curse him, but Dumbledore said calmly but forcefully,

"Severus, put your wand down." Annoyed, Severus kept it out for a moment before lowering it, but only lowering it a tad bit. "You can yell at each other all you want, but I cannot allow you to hurt one another." Severus rounded on Dumbledore.

"Why not?" he asked viciously. "Why can't I hurt him? He deserves it. Treating somebody – _anybody_ – like that. _Especially_ somebody who, essentially, saved his, his wives, and his unborn child's _lives_ because she told you that Voldemort was after them and then told them so they knew to go into hiding. And did you know that Nicole telling you that was a huge risk of her own life because if Voldemort finds out she told Dumbledore and you, she will be tortured and killed?" He had directed most of it to James, who acted stunned that Severus was actually siding with and acting worried about somebody other than himself.

"I wouldn't have treated her like that if Dumbledore would tell us why he trusts her!" James yelled, loosing his temper much like Harry would have – and I probably would have, too, had it been me, but I would have at least _tried_ to stay calm.

"It isn't his to tell!" Severus yelled. "It's Nicole's, and seeing that when she risks her life for you and you treat her like _this_, you would probably react badly, which is what she is afraid of. You, Lily, Black, Lupin, Regulus, _anybody_ reacting badly when she tells them is one of her worst fears."

"_You_ know why he trusts her, and I _know_ that I'm more trustworthy than _you_! So why can't I know? It's not like it has anything to do with me!"

"You would be surprised," Severus said, lowering his voice but still speaking so loud that he was practically yelling. "You were way out of line and should apologize to her. But I know you won't. You won't because you're afraid of loosing your public pride by apologizing to somebody who could be an important factor in your future."

"Why would she be an important factor in my future?" James asked, narrowing his eyes.

"She knows a lot about you and works alongside Voldemort daily," Severus replied smartly and smoothly.

Severus turned and walked swiftly out of the room, leaving James staring, dumbfounded, after him.

"James," Dumbledore said calmly. James turned to look at him, opening his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore held up one hand to silence him. "I agree with Severus on this one. You were way out of line." He turned to Sirius, who seemed surprised that Dumbledore was now looking at him. "Sirius, do you remember what happened the first day Nicole came to your house for Christmas vacation in 1978?"

Sirius nodded slowly, confused.

"Yes," he replied. "I tried to convince her not to go undercover, that it was too dangerous, and then – " He stopped, realizing what Dumbledore was getting at.

"And then what?" Dumbledore pressured.

"And then she found a Boggart upstairs. And – and it was you, James," he said quietly, turning toward James, who was obviously confused. "And you – you told her that you didn't trust her and didn't know why Dumbledore did."

"Why was it me and not somebody else?" James asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"When I asked her, she said she didn't know why it was you, but that she was most afraid of not being accepted and that is how the Boggart portrayed it."

"There is a reason it was you, James," Dumbledore said. "I can't tell you, but you _will_ find out."

"But – "

"No ifs, ands, or butts about it."

"James," Lily said, "I have to agree with Sev and Dumbledore. That was out of line. You lost your temper and you shouldn't have." James opened his mouth, but Lily silenced him with a look. "How would you feel if somebody treated _you_ like that? You wouldn't be very happy, would you?" James didn't respond and instead looked down at his feet.

"Now I have some work I must be getting to," Dumbledore said, suddenly pleasant. "Kingsley, Gideon, Fabian, and Frank, would you take these Death Eaters to Azkaban for me?"

Meanwhile, I had headed straight for the Room of Requirement. I knew that Regulus was after me, so I chose a room which I knew he would be able to get into. I quickly sat down on a scarlet sofa with my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands.

So, even though I'm not a crybaby, usually, in a situation like this, I would cry – so maybe I could be a crybaby at times. In my defense, t was the best way for me to release my anger and tension without hurting anybody – which is a pretty good way, too, if it was somebody I hated like Voldemort. I couldn't wait until I got to kill him.

But this time, my eyes were surprisingly dry. I tried to keep my mind off of the fact that this world was almost worse than the one I came from, but it was nearly impossible for me to do so. I managed to for only a few seconds at a time before it would come rushing back into my mind once again.

After a moment, I heard the door creak open quietly and slowly. But I refused to look up, even when I felt Regulus sit down on the sofa beside me and wrap his arms around me, pulling me toward him and against his chest.

We were silent for a long time until I finally looked up at Regulus. When our eyes met, he seemed surprised that my eyes were so dry, but he tried in vain not to show it.

"Hey, don't listen to James. He's being an idiot," he said softly.

"Like always," I added. Regulus smiled, kissing my forehead.

"Yeah, like always."

"I just don't know why he doesn't trust me," I said after a pause. "I thought that maybe going undercover would get him to trust me more than he had because I would be a spy for Dumbledore and actually helpful to the Order. But it just made him trust me even less. I don't get it. What did I do wrong?"

"I think he knows there is something..._different_ about you," Regulus said quietly. "And he doesn't know what to believe, so he believes that you are different because you are a spy for Voldemort and not Dumbledore."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up," I said. "But I don't think that's it."

"I do, and you don't have to believe it, but I honestly do. I know that somebody who is actually as stupid as he is acting can't produce somebody like you, so I believe that is just what he believes because he doesn't know what to believe. I would think the same thing if I was in his position. I'm sure you would too." I didn't reply because I knew he was right, but hated admitting that I was wrong – really, who likes to admit they are wrong?

"Why does everything seem to go wrong in my life?" I asked finally.

"Because," Regulus said softly, "We have to fight to reach the top. Without hard times, there would be no easy ones. Without downs, there would be no ups. Without evil, there would be no good. We have to push through the hard times to get to the good ones. Maybe it isn't right. Maybe it isn't fair. But that's the way it is. One of these days, going through all of this will pay off for you."

We were silent for a moment once again.

"What's going to happen after you have to go back to 1997?" Regulus asked quietly. "I don't want to spend about 15 years without you. It's too long. Plus, I doubt your parents would like a 36 year old to date their 15 year old." I had forgotten that I was still 15 and Regulus would be 19 in early July already. But then, I remembered the happenings earlier that day. I pulled the vial of time sand out of my robes.

"What's that?" Regulus asked, taking the vial from me.

"Time sand. Sev gave it to me."

"Why do you have it?"

"I thought it might come in handy. Now I realize it will."

"What do you mean?"

"Take it. Sev said a spoonful should take you 17 years into the future, but if I were you, when making the potion to go into the future, I would ask Sev exactly how much to put into it." Regulus looked down at me.

"You sure?" I nodded.

"I don't want you to have to wait for me, either. Plus I don't want you to meet somebody else. But make sure that if you measure it out so that you will end up after August ninth, 1997." Regulus leaned down and kissed my forehead softly once again.

"I will."

* * *

I stayed as far away from James as possible the next two weeks. Any time I would come across him, he would always glare at me and refuse to talk to me. Fine by me, I didn't want him to talk to me anyway, mainly because I didn't want to have to talk back.

Lily had apologized for his behavior that day about a week later, but it wasn't the same as it would be if he had apologized himself, even if he didn't mean it. It's just two words little, and they are so easy to say to somebody, but he still didn't say it.

**(A/N: At this point, the POV switches to third person because Nicole isn't there during this part so she obviously can't narrate.)**

February first came quicker than Lily and James had expected. Before they knew it, they were with Sirius and Remus in Severus' office, ready to finish mixing the potion and ready to have Lily drink it. Severus wasn't there – he was teaching – but he had made them promise not to purposely destruct his office. Remus had claimed they were too old for petty jokes like that, but Lily had said, disbelieving, that she'd keep them in line.

They had only a few things left to add, which everybody had left to Lily. Soon, they only had the time sand left, which they were surprised to see was sitting on the edge of a shelf with no lid. Severus had strictly told them to put lids on _everything_ when they were done. But they didn't put that one there with no lid, so they left it.

Just after adding the last ingredient, while Sirius was putting it away in the supply closet, Lily suddenly put her hand to her now bulging stomach. Her eyes were wide, and James and Remus suddenly thought the worst.

"Lily? Lily, what's wrong?" James asked, putting a hand on her shoulder gently. But then, to their surprise, Lily smiled.

"It's kicking!"

"What? I thought it wasn't supposed to start kicking until at least next month?" James asked, putting a hand on her stomach as well. Then he, too, broke out into smile. Remus rushed over and put his hand on her stomach as well.

"Sirius! Come here, quick! The baby's kicking!"

Sirius hurtled out of the supply closet, running over to them as fast as possible. As he ran between the cauldron and the shelves to get to them, his elbow knocked the time sand vial over.

It started to topple over into the potion. Half of it landed inside of it, half of it out.

Remus was the only one to notice.

"Sirius!" he yelled, but it was too late.

There was a BOOM!and the four friends were thrown back into the wall by an explosion...

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	21. 1996

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks for the review: nicolehpmagic21 – It will all be explained this chaptern**

Chapter 20

"_Sirius!" he yelled, but it was too late._

_There was a _BOOM!_and the four friends were thrown back into the wall by an explosion..._

Debris flew around them as they sat with their backs against the wall, too startled to move. Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, everything cleared away, leaving the four alone in a completely empty room.

"Lily, is the baby okay?" James asked from his position against the wall, suddenly afraid for Lily and the baby.

"Y – Yes, he's fine! He's still kicking," Lily replied, attempting to stand up and then having to use the wall for support. James quickly jumped up and helped steady her.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around. Sirius and Remus were getting shakily to their feet, and all of Severus' things had disappeared.

"The time sand was all dumped into the potion. Actually, I think only half of it made it in," Remus answered.

"Damn, Snape is going to kill us," Sirius said, suddenly looking frightened. "You don't want to get on his bad side."

"No," Remus corrected. "I'll make sure he only kills _you_, Padfoot. You're the one who knocked it in!"

"But why did it explode?" James interrupted

"That much time sand, the belladona, helleborn, and wormwood all reacted badly, causing the explosion. Since the potion got onto us, it should have done something...but I'm not sure what," Lily said, eyebrows furrowed.

"If we are still in Hogwarts, we should find Dumbledore," Sirius said. Remus nodded.

"Probably the smartest thing Sirius has ever said," he said, pulling open the door and leading the way out into the empty corridor on the other side.

"Hey!" Sirius said.

"Hmm, wonder where all of the students are," Lily remarked as they walked up the marble staircases to the seventh floor.

"Dunno," James said, looking around for any sign of any people at all. Remus' eyebrows were furrowed, as if deep in thought, but nobody noticed.

When they got to the seventh floor, they heard the clicking of feet on the ground. James looked around the corner and exclaimed,

"Minerva!"

The others looked around the corner and saw a startled Professor McGonagall walking toward them. There was something different about her since the last time they had seen her, but they didn't know what.

"Mr. Potter! Might I ask how – and why, for that matter – you are here _before _the Hogwarts Express, and calling your professors by their first name!"

"What are you – ?" James started, but McGonagall cut him off.

"I am _astounded _that you would do such a thing! I could see your sister doing this – oh, how I could see _her_ doing this – but _you_? What has gotten into – ?" She cut off once she noticed Lily, Remus, and Sirius as well. Her eyes widened and she said, "Follow me." Bewildered, the four didn't know what to do besides follow her.

She led them to the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, and said quickly to it, "Lemon drops." She then led them up the stone stairs and knocked on Dumbledore's office door.

"Enter."

McGonagall led them inside, and as soon as Dumbledore saw James, the first to enter, he said,

"Harry, what are you doing here – ?" But he cut off when he saw the other people with James. "James? Sirius? Remus? Lily?" he asked, glancing from one to the other, disbelieving.

"I found them in the seventh floor corridor and brought them straight here," McGonagall explained.

"Minerva, could you so kindly leave us?" McGonagall did as asked, and Dumbledore then conjured up four chairs for them and asked them politely to sit down.

"Sir, what happened to your hand?" Lily asked suddenly, looking down at Dumbledore's black, withered hand.

"That is a story for another time, Lily. First of all, I want you to tell me what happened just before you came here." They explained how they had been making the potion, how Sirius knocked the time sand in accidentally and how there was an explosion, at which point Dumbledore smiled.

"Ah, can you do me the pleasure of telling me what day, month, and year it is?"

"February 1st, 1980, sir, but don't you know that?" Lily answered, confused.

"Well, I would, Lily, if it weren't for the fact that it is actually September 1st, 1996."

"Bloody hell," Sirius wheezed.

"The wormwood and amount of time sand reacted and sent you guys exactly 16 years and seven months into the future," Dumbledore explained. Sirius whistled.

"Is there a way to send us back to our time?" Remus asked.

"There is a potion that should," Dumbledore said. "It has to be made _perfectly _and will take a month. I can start it tonight. And I'm afraid that we will have to wipe your memories before we send you back, as we wouldn't want you guys to change your future – or my past – now would we?"

"Why can't we keep our memories? We won't change anything," James said. "It's not that I _want_ to change it, it's just that I don't want to loose my memory."

"Because you will probably want to change it, and we can't let that happen," Dumbledore said. The four still looked rebellious – even Lily did – but they backed down as Dumbledore continued. "It's a very good thing that you came today, actually, because it is the first day of school. The train has yet to arrive, it should be here soon though. We should come up with a cover story and you can pose as new students for a while."

"How about we were home-schooled until we decided to come here? Remus and I can be siblings, and Sirius and James can be siblings and we were neighbors," Lily suggested. "That way James and I can still be together without being siblings."

"Sounds good to me. As you are graduated, you have a choice of what year you would like to go into. I would recommend two of you go into sixth year, two of you into fourth, as you will find somebody you will know in both years. We can use Glamor Charms to make you look younger and unrecognizable, as people will recognize you and that isn't a good idea," Dumbledore said.

"I should probably go into sixth year," Lily said. "Glamor Charms can't hide my stomach, and being a pregnant 16 year old is better than being a pregnant 14 year old, even if 16 is still pretty young."

"I want to be with Lily," James said, intertwining his hand with hers. She smiled at him.

"Remus, Sirius, are you okay with being fourth years?"

"Sounds good to me," Sirius said while Remus merely shrugged.

"We need you to have different names then."

"I'll be Blithe," Sirius said.

"Uh, Sirius, that's a girl's name," Lily said. Sirius shrugged, indifferent.

"It's the opposite of 'serious' so I'm using it." Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'll be Lizzy," Lily said.

"You should be Remy, Remus," James said. "I'll be Jamie, or is that too close?"

"Nobody will put notice that they are that close," Remus pointed out. "Especially if we have Glamor Charms on. It's only a month. And I guess I'll be Remy, that's not bad."

"How about last names?"

"James and Sirius should be White, since it is the opposite of Black," Remus said. "And Lily and I could be Evans, I guess." Dumbledore nodded.

"Ready for the charms?" he asked, picking up his wand with his black, withered hand. The time-travelers nodded, and he waved his wand around each of them and said, "There. That should do." They all looked at each other.

They had changed so much that even Dumbledore himself wouldn't have recognized them. The most obvious change, besides that they looked several years younger, was their hair and eyes. Lily's hair had turned dark brown and was shoulder length and straight and her eyes had turned a darker, duller green. Remus' hair was slightly darker than Lily's and had shortened to nearly a buzz cut and his eyes were the same color as Lily's. They were both nearly exactly the same height, but Remus looked a little younger than Lily. James and Sirius both now had blonde hair. Sirius' had shortened to James' length and James' had flattened so it was no longer messy. They both had caramel colored eyes as well, and the only difference was that Sirius was now shorter than James and looked younger.

"Whoa, this is crazy!" Sirius exclaimed, examining his friends.

"Now, after we sort the first years, I will introduce you and you can come into the Great Hall using the teachers entrance and be sorted again," Dumbledore explained. James groaned.

"Can't we just say we were already sorted and are in Gryffindor?" Dumbledore smiled but shook his head.

"It's easier this way." He looked toward the window, and then he smiled slightly. "Ah, yes, the train is here. I'll show you to the staff entrance – although I'm sure three of you already know how to get there." He smiled at James, Sirius, and Remus, with the usual twinkle in his eyes, but quickly turned away and lead the four of them to the staff entrance to the Great Hall.

After all of the first years were sorted, Dumbledore introduced them and they entered the Great Hall.

Lily was the first to be called up – as "Evans, Lizzy" – to put the Sorting Hat on. She knew that she would get a lot of stares as she was pregnant AND a new student, but didn't care.

"_Miss Evans! How surprised I am to see you again!"_

"_Why is that?" _Lily asked it.

"_No reason," _it replied quickly. _"I still believe you would do well in Ravenclaw, but, as you should know some people here, we best put you back in _GRYFFINDOR!" Lily joined the Gryffindor table as they applauded politely, sitting beside a girl with vivid red hair, who looked vaguely familiar and smiled friendlily at Lily as she sat down before turning back to her friends.

The next was Remus, who was called up as "Evans, Remy."

_Hello Mr. Lupin! I should have expected you as soon as I saw Miss Evans again!_

_You mean Mrs. Potter? _Remus corrected.

_Ha, ha, yes, I do. I best put you back with Mrs. Potter in _GRYFFINDOR!" Remus joined Lily, sitting beside her and vaguely noting someone who looked familiar down the table a bit as he watched Sirius get called up as "White, Blithe" and put the Sorting Hat on. Almost instantly it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius sat across from them, beside a boy with a round face who reminded Lily of somebody, much like almost every student here did.

Last to be called up was James, by the name of "White, Jamie." Almost as fast as Sirius, the hat called "GRYFFINDOR!" and he sat beside Sirius.

Dumbledore said his usual short words, and then the four dug into the food instantly. They didn't pay attention to the teachers yet, they decided they would later, and barely said anything until Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent.

"The very best of evenings to you!" There was mild chatter at the sight of his black, withered hand.

"We know this speech by heart, unless there is a new caretaker – nope, there's Filch right there!" Sirius said, pointed to Filch, standing off in a corner holding Mrs. Norris.

"Ugh, that cat is _still_ here?" James groaned. "It should have been killed long before now." Lily hit him lightly at wishing the cat dead.

"…and Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."

"What's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Sirius asked. The girl with red hair beside Lily turned to them and said,

"You've never heard of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" she asked. When they shook their head, she explained. "It's a new joke shop in Diagon Alley. My twin brothers, Fred and George, own it. It's doing so well that they are even considering buying Zonko's to have a Hogsmeade branch. Reckon you've heard of it? I'm Ginny, by the way, Ginny Weasley."

"Nice to meet you Ginny. And we've heard of Zonko's," Lily said.

"Whoa, that shop sounds bloody awesome!" Sirius said. "We _have_ to go there Jamie!" he said, turning to James, who looked just as excited as he sounded.

"'Course we will Blithe!" he replied.

When it was announced seconds later that _Professor Snape_ was taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a few Gryffindors had yelled "No!" It was obvious he was only liked among the Slytherins.

Dumbledore gave the pep-talk that they were used to, mostly about being in a time where Voldemort was _back_, which greatly confused them.

"He's _back_? Where did he ever _go_?" Remus asked. Ginny turned to them again and said,

"You don't know the story of Voldemort and Harry Potter?" They tried not to show their surprise at the name Harry Potter, but knew it didn't work and that Ginny knew that they were surprised about something. What did Voldemort have to do with Lily's baby?

Finally, Lily shook her head.

"No, what story?" Ginny sighed.

"It's a long story, but here goes.

"Fifteen years ago, You-Know-Who went after a one year old baby, Harry Potter." She motioned over her shoulder. "He's down there if you are looking for him." They looked over her shoulder, but she continued talking before they could see and they turned back to her.

"He's a sixth year Gryffindor. Anyway, he killed Harry's parents – " Lily covered her mouth with her hand; She and James were dead? James held her hand under the table and squeezed it. " – and then turned his wand on Harry. But somehow, nobody knows how – well Dumbledore probably does but he hasn't told – the spell backfired onto You-Know-Who." Lily gasped again. "He was left alive, but barely just.

"Harry survived, as did his little sister – whom You-Know-Who didn't even know about – Nicole. She's down there, a fourth year Gryffindor." She motioned somewhere behind them, but they didn't turn around and look because they were too enticed by her story. They didn't even notice that Lily and James' daughter shared the same name as Nicole Sawyer of their time.

"In June 1995, after a faithful servant returned to him, You-Know-Who, in a way captured Harry and used his blood to bring himself back to full power." Once again, Lily gasped and James squeezed her hand. "Last year, nobody believed Harry and Dumbledore when they said that You-Know-Who was back to power, at least until June of this year, when the Minister himself saw You-Know-Who in the Ministry after a break-in."

Just as Ginny finished her story, they were released to go to their Common Rooms. The time-travelers followed Ginny to the Common Room, where they settled into some chairs. Most students went off to bed, but a few settled themselves into the chairs as well.

The time-travelers were silent until Remus said,

"Let's go to the Room of Requirement. We need to talk."

They all got up and followed Remus to the portrait hole. Luckily, only about ten students were left in the Common Room, and none of them saw the new students leave.

They were careful not to cross anybody's path until Sirius stopped about halfway to the Room of Requirement. The others stopped behind him and watched as he slowly picked up a small piece of paper that looked like a photograph off of the ground, his eyes wide.

He opened his mouth to say something to them, but then stopped as two voices came floating into the corridor from around a corner.

"Let's go back!" the first voice, a girl's, said.

"Come on, Demelza, I know it's around here _some_where!" the second voice, also a girl's, said.

"We've looked _every_where! Can't we go back?" the first, Demelza, whined.

"Ugh, I _knew_ I should have brought Romilda!" the second complained.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because she's too busy _wooing_ over my brother! It's sick!" Demelza laughed, but only for a second.

"Can we go back _now_?" she asked.

"What if I died tomorrow, and this was the last picture you ever had of me and you couldn't find it because you wanted to go back to the Common Room? How would you feel then?" the first asked. Her voice sounded serious, but it was obvious she was joking.

"Yes, because You-Know-Who has it out to get you," Demelza said sarcastically and the two girls appeared around the corner.

The first one they saw had light brown hair pulled into a low ponytail. She was wearing a Gryffindor sweater and was clearly very annoyed with her friend.

The second had long, strawberry blonde hair and familiar hazel eyes. She looked exactly like the Nicole Sawyer that the time-travelers knew, only a year or two younger. All of the time-travelers' eyes widened when they saw her. The two friends didn't appear to notice the time-travelers, however.

"He does! I told you he's going to use me to get to Harry one of these days! He used Sirius and he's already tried to use me once before! If Remus hadn't been visiting that day then I wouldn't be here! And you know Harry would come to my aide, he's already proven that he's a noble git," the second said.

The time-travelers were shocked at hearing both Sirius' and Remus' name, but didn't have time to dwell on it because the second girl had ran straight into Sirius. She wobbled backwards and almost fell over until he grabbed her wrist to help steady her, his eyes wide.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, taking a step back to get a better look at him. She noticed the picture he was holding, and looked at it closer. "Did you just find this?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh – yeah," Sirius said quietly, glancing down at the picture again. "Is it yours?" The girl nodded and took it gently from him.

"Thanks," she said before she turned back to Demelza and said, "I _told_ you we'd find it." She turned back to Sirius. "You're the new kid, right? Jamie?" Sirius shook his head, blinked, and regained his composure.

"No, I'm Blithe. He's Jamie," he motioned over his shoulder to James, but the girl looked at Lily and her stomach instead before turning back to Sirius.

"Can't we go back now, Nicole? You found your damn picture," her friend Demelza said before she could say anything. Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She smiled one last time at Sirius. "Do you know how to get back to the Common Room?" Sirius nodded and she turned and walked away. Sirius turned back to his friends.

"Now we _really_ need to talk."

Once they were seated comfortably around a fire in the Room of Requirement, Sirius said,

"That girl, not only did she look _exactly_ like Nicole from our time and have the same name, but – well, do you remember when I would constantly bug Nicole, trying to get her to let me see a picture?" They nodded. "Well I saw a glimpse of it and that's why I wanted to see it, but couldn't tell _exactly_ what it was." He paused. "That picture I just found – _that_ was the picture." There was silence for a moment until Remus said,

"I think I know what this means." He looked up at them, as he had been staring at his lap. "_This_ Nicole and _our_ Nicole are one and the same."

"How – ?"

"Time travel. That's how _we_ got _here_, isn't it? An older version of this Nicole came back in time to our time."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	22. Pensive

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks for the review: Hannahzzz**

**So this chapter is pretty long! You get to see a glimpse of what Nicole's life was like before she was sent back in time.**

Chapter 21

There was a shocked silence, until –

"That's impossible!" James said, but Sirius and Lily seemed to be deep in thought.

"It makes sense, though, Prongs," Sirius said after a moment. "Remember what the map said Nicole's last name was? Potter. And she says her father is a pureblood, her mother a Muggleborn. Her Godfather's a werewolf, was bitten by Greyback, and was one of her father's best friends, who were a gang of four. They were _illegal Animagi_ and one of them she always calls a _rat_. And what about that prophecy? It all fits."

"What about the fact that she calls her parents terrible at Quidditch and not strong wizards? And her father was born in America?" James said.

"Those are obviously lies."

"What if the rest were lies?" James asked. "You never know – "

"James, face it," Lily said, looking at James. "Nicole is our _daughter_." James' eyes widened when she said this, and then he said,

"We can't let Dumbledore erase our memory. I don't want to forget that she's our daughter."

"We can't do anything about it," Remus said. Sirius turned to Lily.

"Have you ever heard of how to make a potion like this?"

"Well, yes, but – "

"I'll get the ingredients, you make the potion. We can start tomorrow, but we will have to try to beat Dumbledore to finish it and then leave him a note or something that will tell him that we are okay and found a way back on our own." Lily sighed, defeated.

"Fine. Get me everything I'll need and I'll do it." Sirius smiled at her.

"Deal."

"Guys," James said quietly. "I just realized something." He looked up at Lily. "Lily and I – we – we're _dead_." Sirius put a hand on his shoulder, as his eyes were wide and fearful.

"James, you died defending your children. You died a noble death."

"We're going to change it, James," Remus said quietly. "We really are. That's why we are going to create this potion and go before Dumbledore can send us back. So we can change it." James closed his eyes briefly, swallowed, and then opened them again.

"Thanks guys."

Once back in the Common Room, they weren't surprised to find it completely empty.

"Guess we better head off to bed," James said. He gave Lily a quick kiss before he led Sirius and Remus over toward the boys' dormitory. Then, he stopped so suddenly Remus ran into him. "Lily, come here," he said. Lily walked slowly over to them, and said,

"What, James?" But she then saw what.

Asleep on a couch near the fireplace was Nicole. She was laying on her side with one arm draped across a small, fluffy Siamese cat that was sleeping against her stomach, the other under her head. Her legs were bent up at odd angles and her bangs fell in front of her face. Her mouth was open slightly.

Lily grabbed James' arm and whispered, "She's so beautiful." James smiled at her and kissed the top of Lily's head.

"I don't know why I never saw it before. She looks so much like you, Lily." Lily smiled.

"Hey, here's that picture," Sirius said, picking up the picture from the table in front of the couch Nicole was on. They all leaned over his shoulder to look at it.

It was a picture of about thirty people, all smiling happily. Nicole sat in the very front, holding the hand of a red-head sitting next to her. Behind her were Sirius and Remus, who were unmistakable even at an older age, and Dumbledore stood behind them. A boy who looked just like James sat in the front row in front of Arthur and Molly Weasley.

"James, there's no mistaking it – this is your kid," he said, pointing to Harry. "He looks _just _like you." James took the picture from Sirius and looked closely at it, flipping it over to look at the names.

"Why is your name and Emmeline Vance's name underlined?" he asked Sirius.

"How am I supposed to know? All I know is that when I saw it in our time, a lot more names were underlined. I don't know which, though."

"Hey look," Remus said suddenly. They turned to see him looking at a small stone basin sitting on the table next to where the picture was that they hadn't noticed before. They all leaned closer, and saw a silvery light emanating from the silvery liquid inside of it. "It's a Pensive," Remus explained. "You keep memories in it." He glanced back at Nicole's sleeping form. "She probably put things she dreams about but doesn't _want_ to dream about in it." Sirius leaned toward it.

"Let's see what kind of memories she has," he said, trying to make out any figures inside of it.

"Sirius! That's somebody's personal memories!" Lily said. "But yeah, I agree, I want to see what my daughter doesn't want to dream about."

Sirius, followed by Lily, Remus, and finally James, leaned forward and into the Pensive.

They landed in a busy Leaky Cauldron. They saw Mr. Weasley sitting at the bar talking to a red-head boy, a bushy brown haired girl, Harry and Nicole. "Who's that?" the younger Nicole asked, looking disgustedly at the front of the newspaper.

"Sirius Black," Mr. Weasley answered. The time-travelers leaned forward and saw, to their surprise, a man with a long mass of filthy black hair, eyes sunk back into his skull, yellow teeth, and wearing a uniform from Azkaban. They all gasped.

"He was on the Muggle news. What did he do?" Nicole asked.

"Broke out of Azkaban, that's what," another red-head said, coming up from behind Nicole. Sirius gasped, staring at his image in the paper. Nicole turned to the red-head."You must be Nicole. I'm Fred, this is George." He indicated the other red-head behind him. "Hello Harry!" Harry waved to him and Nicole asked Fred,

"Why was he in Azkaban to being with?"

"Murder," George answered solemnly. Sirius' eyes widened even further, and Remus put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Of thirteen people –" Fred continued.

"– in the middle of the street –"

"– in broad daylight –"

"– with a single curse," they finished together. All of the time-travelers gasped and looked at Sirius worriedly, as if he might kill them that instant.

"He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who," Mr. Weasley said. "One of his most trusted Death Eaters."

"No!" Sirius yelled, tearing his eyes away from the paper for the first time. 

"Don't be feeding my daughter this _shit_!" James said angrily.

"That's not something Sirius would do!" Remus exclaimed.

"I hate that they're telling our daughter this crap!" Lily said.

"How did he get out?"

"Well if we knew that would we be having this problem?" Mr. Weasley asked. "But we're certain he broke out to bring Voldemort back to power."

"No!" Sirius said again. "This is _shit_! Shit, I'm telling you!"

The scene dissolved, and then they were standing in the stands of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. The weather was _terrible _– there was rain, thunder, lightening. Nicole was standing on her seat, soaked to the bone, looking around with binoculars that she had obviously stolen from Hagrid, who was sitting behind her.

"I found Fred – George – the Hufflepuff Seeker, Diggory, right? And – " She cut off, frowning. She pulled the binoculars down, looking up, and then her eyes widened, her mouth slightly open. "The Dementors! They're on the field! Harry!" She looked around frantically, forgetting about the binoculars, then suddenly pointed at something.

She screamed, as did a few other people around her. Her hand shot up to her mouth, and the time-travelers saw what she was pointing at.

A Gryffindor player, who was only a small dot from where they stood, was falling from their broom.

"HARRY!" Nicole screamed. Lily gasped and gripped James' hand.

The scene dissolved again, and they found themselves back in the Quidditch stands, only the field looked different. There was a small clearing and then there were huge hedges running throughout the pitch and into the distance.

"What's going on?" Sirius, who was still shocked from the newspaper, asked indignantly, looking around Ginny's head.

"I don't know, but I don't like this," Lily said quietly, squeezing James' hand.

Everything was silent for a long while. They saw Nicole bitting her fingernails beside them, the red-headed boy and bushy-haired girl that they had seen several times beside her looking very, very pale.

There was a flash of light, and then two people were suddenly lying on the ground with a cup in the middle of the clearing.

Nicole gasped, and then broke the silence with an ear-splitting scream.

Then, just after her scream, the crowd erupted. Nicole started to run past the people in the same aisle as her. The red-head grabbed her wrist, saying,

"Nicole! No, stay here!"

"Let me _go_, Ron!" she screamed before tugging her arm away from him, pushing past some smaller children beside her and running down the stands.

The time-travelers followed her, watching as Dumbledore pulled Harry up, breathing a sigh of relief when he was found to be alive, but stopping flat out when they heard the words floating through the air,

"Cedric Diggory's dead."

They saw Nicole stop as well when she heard these words, tears streaming down her face, before breaking out into a run again. The time-travelers stayed where they were, right by the Weasley twins, who were both pale, and watched as Nicole got almost into the clearing before another unmistakable Weasley – they guessed it was Bill by the way he looked – grabbed her around the waist, keeping her from going into the clearing.

She struggled desperately to get away, yelling and screaming at him. They got closer so they could hear what she was saying above the commotion.

"Let me _go_, Bill!" she screamed, yanking one of her arms away from him. "Let me go! HARRY!" They looked to where she was looking and saw Mad-Eye Moody pulling a limping Harry out of the clearing.

"Nicole, it's okay, Harry's okay, Mad-Eye will take care of him – !"

"No! You don't understand! There's a traitor, somebody's a Death Eater in disguise, and they would want to get him alone after he came out of there alive! Moody's a Death Eater in disguise!" Nicole screamed, finally breaking free of Bill's restraint and running toward the clearing. But before she got out of the Quidditch pitch, her wrists were grabbed again, this time by a hooked nose, greasy haired teacher.

"Miss Potter, Moody will take care of him!" Snape said, holding her still as she struggled against him.

"No! No, he's a Death Eater, let me go Snape!" she cried, more tears falling down her cheeks.

"Voldemort's back!" Dumbledore said from somewhere behind them. Nicole stopped struggling, her eyes wide. Her fear and anger was so contagious that the time-travelers even felt it.

"He's back..." she whispered.

"Where's Harry?" Dumbledore said suddenly.

"Moody!" she screamed toward him around Snape. "Moody took him!" She started struggling against Snape again, but he held on tightly as Dumbledore flanked past him.

The scene dissolved once again, this time coming up as a room that each one besides Lily recognized.

"Where are we?" she asked, examining the Family Tree on the wall.

"Grimmauld Place, my childhood home," Sirius answered her, looking at the person that Nicole was gazing at. He gasped and put his hand on it. The others all gathered around and saw that it was Regulus, only instead of only one date like he should have, he had two.

"1979...but that means he should have died last year," Lily said quietly.

"That was my younger brother," they heard a voice say behind them. Nicole and the time-travelers spun around simultaneously and saw an older, but better looking than the picture they had seen him in, Sirius. He was staring at Regulus' photo as he came up to stand beside Nicole. "He took the Dark Mark when he was only sixteen. Got cold feet later and tried to run, but they killed him." He sighed, and Nicole looked up at him.

"You loved him even if he was – well, the way he was, didn't you?" Pensive-Sirius didn't answer, but it was obvious that the answer was yes.

"My parents were actually proud of _him_," he said, sounding almost regretful. "I'm sure if my parents had lived long enough to see that I had been accused of killing Muggles and being Voldemort's biggest supporter, they would have tried to put me back on there."

"Do you _want _to be back on there?" Nicole asked, now looking at a picture of a kid who was two years older than her labeled _Draco Malfoy_. "I mean, I would rather be disowned than admit that I was related to Malfoy."

"No, I honestly don't. Besides, my mother would have been the first to see that I was really innocent."

"See, Padfoot?" Remus asked, patting Sirius on the shoulder. "You were really innocent!"

"Then I wonder who really did it," Sirius said quietly as the scene dissolved again and came up as a place none of them had expected.

It looked like the layout of the DADA teacher's office, but it was decorated in pink and was frilly and had pictures of meowing kittens on the wall. Nicole sat on a chair across from a short, stout woman who was wearing a pink, frilly outfit that matched her office.

"It – It's a blood quill," Nicole said, staring at a long, thin, black quill. The woman nodded, and Lily gasped.

"What a _horrid _woman! That's what those scars are from on the back of her hands! I had always wondered!"

"Yes. Your brother must have taken a fair bit of interest in this quill, for he keeps having to join me in detention for telling such horrific lies – "

"He's not lying!" Nicole said angrily. The woman smiled creepily.

"Another week of detention for you, Miss Potter. Now get to writing. The first half of the time you will be writing 'I will obey the High Inquisitor' with your left hand and the other half 'I must not tell lies' with your right hand."

"How did you know I was ambidextrous?" Nicole asked, picking up the quill tentatively with her left hand. "Professor Umbridge?" she added as an afterthought.

"I have my ways. Now get to writing."

They watched as Nicole tentatively started to write, the words etched into the back of her left hand by the time the scene dissolved and came back up as the inside of an empty classroom. Nicole was sitting with her legs crossed with her back against the wall, her eyes closed and her hands folded in her lap.

"_Expecto patronum!_" she said, closing her eyes tighter and tighter. She repeated herself over and over until suddenly, a great silver wolf burst out in front of her. She opened her eyes and watched it zoom around the room with wide eyes until it finally disappeared.

"Did she just produce a _wandless_ patronus?" Lily asked in shock as they followed a running Nicole out of the room and down the Hogwarts corridor until she came up to the same two kids whom they always saw with Harry.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, guess what?"

"Not now, Nicole," Harry said distractedly, pushing her roughly to the side and running past her. Ron and Hermione followed him, both glancing at a now angry Nicole, who followed them.

"I produced a wandless patronus!" she yelled in Harry's ear as soon as she caught up with him. He stopped and turned to her angrily.

"Look, Nicole, any other time I'd be happy for you, but right now – !"

"Why, what happened during your O.W.L.s?" Nicole asked, now worried. Harry sighed.

"I fell asleep." After a pause, Nicole started to giggle and then full out laugh, but when Harry did not, she stopped.

"What did you see?"

"Voldemort has Sirius and he's going to kill him." Nicole's eyes widened, and she was obviously very frightened.

The time-travelers all turned to Sirius with wide, frightened eyes. Sirius looked pale, but didn't say anything as the scene changed.

They were now in a huge, dimly lit, rectangular room, with benches running around it and a sunken pit in the middle with an archway and flowing, black veil floating there.

Around them, there was a battle going on. Harry and the round-faced boy Lily had seen earlier were struggling along the lower benches, and Nicole, who had a gash in her cheek with blood running out of it, another gash in her knee, and was holding her ribs as if they were broken was trying to keep a Death Eater away from her higher up than them, shouting random spells at the Death Eater.

"Harry!" They saw older Remus swoop down beside Harry and heard him say, "Help Nicole!"

Another Death Eater had swooped down on a now scared looking Nicole, but they both suddenly stopped and looked up toward the door, where Dumbledore was hurtling down the steps. Nicole took the moment to knock them both out when they weren't expecting it, and then stood up, hunched over and holding onto her ribs.

Only one battle still raged – between Sirius and Bellatrix.

Time seemed to slow down as Sirius was hit with a jet of red light and then fell slowly through the veil behind him.

"SIRIUS!" Nicole screamed. Tears poured down her cheeks.

She wasn't the only one crying. All four time-travelers were now bawling and had embraced each other, ignoring Harry's shouts and pleads for Remus to let him find Sirius.

It was only when the scene dissolved once again that they broke apart but continued crying silently.

They were now in a quiet, pleasant looking Muggle neighborhood. Nicole was lying on a porch swing on her back. She was staring up at the starry sky. It looked as if she had been crying. The time-travelers noticed Harry sitting on the steps of a house across the street watching her, but Nicole didn't.

"Nicole!" someone, a man, cried from the inside of the house. Nicole's head jerked toward the open door, but she didn't move. "Nicole, get in here!" Nicole didn't move until a tall, skinny Muggle man came out of the house. She sat up quickly and opened her mouth to talk, but the man got there before her. "I've been calling you forever! Get your ass in here!"

"I didn't hear – !"

"Yes you did hear me God dammit!" He grabbed her between her elbows and shoulders, pulling her up from her sitting position, and shook her roughly. Her hair fell in front of her eyes, which were wide.

"Get your filthy hands off of my daughter!" James growled. He had finally stopped crying and was wiping his eyes with his hands.

"Have you been crying _again_?" the man asked, shaking Nicole again.

"No – !" The man brought his hand up and backhanded her across her right cheek. The force sent her tumbling sideways, but his tight grip on her arm kept her standing.

"That bitch!" James growled – oh how he wanted to hurt this man right now for hurting his daughter.

"Don't lie to me!" he said through gritted teeth.

The time-travelers turned to see Harry running across the street toward his sister. "How dare you touch her!" Once he reached them, he pushed the man off of Nicole, who stumbled backwards and landed on the bench. Harry had pulled his wand out and pointed it to the man's throat, who was now sweating and looking frightfully at the wand. "You touch her again, and I swear, you won't live to see the next day!"

"Yes, Harry!" James said. "Defend your sister against that ass!"

The scene around them dissolved once again, and they found themselves in a crowded joke shop.

"It must be Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Lily said, looking around for a familiar face. "There's Nicole!" She led the way toward the back, where they found Nicole and Remus looking around for Fred and George.

"Why, if it isn't our favorite Potter." The two in the Pensive turned to see Fred and George coming toward them in matching green dragon-skin suits.

"And you Professor Lupin, of course," George added.

"_Professor_ Lupin?" Sirius asked, eying Remus, who's cheeks had turned red.

"I've told you to call me Remus, not Professor," Pensive-Remus said.

"Ah, but how could we do that?" Fred asked.

"You're our favorite teacher," George said.

"Well, Umbridge is a close second," Fred said jokingly. Nicole laughed, but was cut off when someone said,

"Fred! George! Nicole!" They turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione joining them.

"We've been looking for you guys here for ages," Hermione said.

"Here, Nicole," Fred said, ignoring the three new arrivals and handing something small to Nicole, who wrapped her hand around it before anybody else could see it. "Take anything you want for free."

"That's not fair!" Ron said indignantly. "I'm your brother and you make me pay, but you let Nicole have anything for free!"

"Well did one of us date you?" George asked. "Nope!" Ron stormed away furiously to laughter from the twins and Nicole.

"Nicole, we must be going soon, you better find what you want," Pensive-Remus said, checking his watch. Nicole groaned before she was pulled into a hug by Fred, who kissed the top of her head before saying,

"Now go along, my future co-owner, and cause as much mayhem at Hogwarts this year without us as possible. Make those Marauders proud!" Nicole laughed, and the scene dissolved one more time.

They were back in the same Muggle neighborhood. Nicole was sitting on the porch swing with Remus. They were laughing about something when there was a sudden, deafening _BOOM!_and five masked people in black cloaks appeared in front of them. Both people jumped up and drew their wands. Pensive-Remus pushed Nicole behind him and said,

"Go inside, now!" but she didn't listen as a full out battle raged in front of her instantly.

Pensive-Remus stunned two of the Death Eaters before they could do anything, but three still remained.

"Nick – get – in – side!" Pensive-Remus said, shooting off more curses. Nicole, once again, remained outside, and then suddenly shot a Stunning Spell at an unsuspecting Death Eater, who tumbled under the curse.

Only two remained, and both people took on one each. The Death Eaters must have been poor duelers, because they were no match, and both crumpled to the ground quickly.

The scene dissolved one final time, and the four were slammed back to solid ground again.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	23. Professor Snape

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: The A/N at the end is important, so please read it when you are done reading!**

**Random question: Does anybody even read these? Well, even if you don't, I'm going to keep having them anyway!**

**I don't know how I got this up tonight as I _just _started it at 3 o'clock today. It might not be as good as usual – you tell me, I'm not good at judging my own work – but here it is anyway!**

**Thanks for the reviews(I'm going to reply to them here because I'm just too lazy to go to my email to reply right now:**

**Hannahzzz – Thank you thank you thank you! You don't know what that means to me! I did have an issue finding out how to get them to go back but still remember, because obviously Dumbledore would wipe their memories. Oh, and yes that _was _her adoptive father. You'll find out a little more about him this chapter – he reminds me of Uncle Vernon, sort of, only not a whale. Just to give you an idea.**

**Sololight – Thank you! I have a comment to add to what you said about Nicole and Regulus getting married, but it would give too much away for future chapters! I will just say that this FF will probably end just a few days after she gets back to the 1997 that she created – well, sort of created. Unless I get asked to make it longer or to make a sequel by several people. So it wouldn't last long enough for them to get married or have a kid, probably.**

**Now, on to the story – finally, right?**

Chapter 22

The first thing the time-travelers heard when they landed back into the Common Room was,

coming from somewhere behind them,

"Bloody hell!" They spun around and found Nicole sitting up on the couch, her eyes wide and her wand held in her hand, pointed straight at them. Immediately, they stepped back, but were careful to show that they didn't want to harm her.

There was silence for a moment before Nicole said, keeping her wand up,

"Did you just watch my memories?"

They all floundered for an answer – Lily and James mostly because they were shocked at finding that their daughter had so many terrible memories, Sirius because he was terrible at coming up with lies on the spot, and Remus was just caught off guard – until Remus finally said,

"We wanted to know what this was. We touched it and found ourselves – well, watching your memories." Nicole stared at them searchingly, for a moment before she brought her wand down and set it on the table next to the Pensive.

"It's a Pensive, if you were still wondering," she answered, staring at the Pensive. "You can store your memories in it. I store the ones that I don't want to dream about in there. They're very rare. My Godfather got it for me – he knows all about this sort of thing."

"Who – who was the man who hit you?" Lily asked after a momentary lapse. Nicole glanced up at her for a moment, her eyes wide, before looking away again, brushing her hair behind her ear, obviously embarrassed at the mention of that memory.

"Uh, he's, uh, my adoptive father," she answered quietly and quickly. "He's not a big fan of magic – okay, that's a lie. He _hates _magic. He hates me, my Godfather, my brother, anything to do with magic. Says it's _different_. I just think that he's deathly afraid of it. He didn't want me to begin with, anyway. He had five kids of his own. But I reminded his wife of their daughter who died in a car accident when she was a baby, so they took me in." She sighed, looking down at her hands in her lap. "He's the best father ever to his kids. Hates me, though."

"Did they adopt your brother too?" Lily asked, sitting down on the couch next to her. Nicole shook her head.

"No. He went to our aunt and uncle. They were Muggles, too, and lived just across the street from me. They're jerks, just like my adoptive father. We didn't know we were siblings until I was eleven and he was thirteen."

"Why?" James asked. He hated that his kids didn't even know they were siblings until Dumbledore told them.

"Dumbledore said he has his reasons." Suddenly, Nicole stood up, grabbing her wand and the Pensive. "I'm going to go to bed. See you tomorrow." They watched as she headed up the girls' dormitories stairs.

Just before she was out of sight, she turned back, patted her thigh with her free hand, and said, "C'mon, Reggie." Perplexed, the four looked at each other, until they saw the cat who had been sleeping beside her before run up to her, rubbing against her legs. She picked him up with her free hand, tucking him under her arm, and said to the four in the Common Room, "Night." They smiled slightly at her as she disappeared around the corner.

There was a pause before Sirius asked the room at large.

"Did she name that cat after Regulus before she even knew him?"

* * *

The next morning, the time-travelers headed down to breakfast together. When they saw Nicole sitting beside the bushy-haired girl and Ginny, they decided to join them.

"Morning," Nicole greeted them. They couldn't help but notice that she was actually eating breakfast – they had never seen her eat breakfast in their time. Even Sirius, who lived with her, had never seen her eating breakfast.

"But he's completely overreacting," the bushy-haired girl, Hermione, said after a brief smile at them. They listened in casually, grabbing some food – or, in Sirius' case, grabbing _tons_ of food. "I don't get it. I mean, a 16 year old as a Death Eater?"

"And Malfoy of all people? He's a bloody coward," Ginny said.

"Well, I agree with the coward part," Nicole said thoughtfully. "But Voldemort has let 16 year olds join him before."

"Who? Who's 16 that's a Death Eater?" Hermione asked, disbelieving.

"Now don't think I'm taking a side here, because I'm not, I don't pick sides in these type of fights between you, but Sirius told me that Regulus joined when he was merely 16," she said. Hermione and Ginny seemed confused.

"You mean your _cat_?" Ginny asked stupidly. Nicole rolled her eyes before looking over up at her, a "duh" look on her face.

"No, you idiot! Sirius' brother! Y'know, the one who got cold feet and was killed when he tried to run? The one Sirius named Reggie after?"

"Oh! I didn't know Regulus was his name, though, so give me a break," Ginny huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from Nicole.

"But still, Malfoy?" Hermione continued. Nicole rolled her eyes again. "Harry is just mad at him for smashing his face in on the train!" The time-travelers were confused, but didn't ask as they didn't want to be caught listening in.

"Well, Malfoy had a good reason to do so," Nicole said. "Not that I'm taking his side – Harry wouldn't have smashed _his_ face in if he saw him on the train – "

"But _you_ would have," Hermione said; it wasn't a question, it was a statement. Nicole shrugged, indifferent.

"Doesn't matter what I would do or wouldn't have done." She looked around the Great Hall, and then muttered, "Speak of the devil," looking toward the doors.

The time-travelers looked where she was and saw a platinum-blonde Slytherin boy enter the Great Hall with two huge Slytherins in tow, smirking at the Gryffindor table before marching to the Slytherin table. "Ugh, he's _such_ an arrogant prick," Nicole said. "Why couldn't the twins and Harry have ruined that pretty face of his last year?"

"If they did that, Umbridge would've suspended them." Nicole shrugged, turning back to her food. "Hey look, here come the time-tables," Hermione said. Nicole took the tables from Ginny, taking a fourth year and sixth year one, which she handed to Hermione, before passing them on down the table. She looked at hers and groaned.

"Defense with Snape _and_ Slytherins _first_ today." Hermione rose her eyebrows at her over her paper.

"Don't get a detention _already,_ Nick."

"I wouldn't count on that," Nicole said bitterly.

"Who's this Snape character and why do we hate him?" Sirius asked, pretending he didn't know whyk, looking over the time-table.

"He's the Defense professor this year and head of Slytherin. He _hates_ Gryffindors, more so Harry and I than everybody else because he hated our father. I have a hard time not getting into fights with him. We just don't see eye to eye. Hermione thinks we are too much alike to get along – which is gross. He used to be the Potions professor, but finally was made Defense this year after trying to get the job for _years_. I don't know why Dumbledore finally gave into him," Nicole answered.

"Is it true the Defense job is jinxed?" Remus asked.

"Yep. Everyone only lasts one year on the job. Snape's my fourth Defense teacher, Hermione's sixth. Hermione's first had Voldemort on the back of his head possessing him – don't ask how," she said at their disgusted faces. "He died. Her second got his memory wiped by a back-firing wand when he tried to wipe Harry's memory – served him right, though, if you ask me. Her third, my first, resigned because it got out that he was a werewolf – not that he wasn't the _best_ teacher we had. He was my Godfather, by the way," she said. "Her fourth, my second, was a Death Eater in disguise. The real guy was locked in a box all year. Her fifth, my third, was a Ministry toad who took over the school last year, Umbridge was her name. She was carried off by a heard of centaurs when she called them 'half-breeds, ' but it served her right for being such a jerk too."

Suddenly, Hermione jumped up, grabbing her bag.

"We've got to get to class, it's going to start in five minutes!" she said hurriedly. Nicole glanced around and noticed, for the first time, that the Great Hall was nearly empty.

"Where are Harry and Ron?"

"They're not in potions, remember? Anyway, even if they were and were late Slughorn would let them off. But Snape won't let you off if you're late." Hermione turned to Lily and James. "Are you guys in Potions?" They nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to class." The two got up and followed her, leaving a frustrated looking Nicole and Sirius and Remus. After a moment, Nicole stood up and said,

"Guess we had better get going."

On the way to Defense, Nicole came up next to Remus and said,

"You're sister, Lizzy, she's pregnant, right?" Remus nodded, confused.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wanted to be sure she wasn't just fat." Sirius snorted. "I've asked someone if they were pregnant when they weren't before, and it's not fun." Sirius snorted again.

Once in class, Nicole took a seat next to her friend Demelza near the back of the room while Remus and Sirius sat just behind them.

Class started with a boring lecture on the Dark Arts. Sirius kept tearing off wads of parchment, crumpling them up, and flicking them at unsuspecting Slytherins when Snape's back was turned. It seemed that they all thought it was Nicole, for they glared at her every time. But she didn't notice, for she was one of the several who had fallen asleep on her desk with her head against her arm, her quill for notes still in her hand. Demelza kept poking her, trying to wake her up, but Nicole would only twitch a bit each time.

"Watch this," Sirius whispered to Remus, pulling out his wand, but keeping it under his desk. While Snape was lecturing a student who came in late about tardiness, Sirius magically wrote,

"_The Marauders are watching you, Snivellus" _on the chalkboard, followed by a dirty message that they had wrote on McGonagall's chalkboard when they were in school that Snape had seen and would – or, at least, should – recognize. Remus rolled his eyes, but didn't reprimand him like usual for he, too, had been bored and needed some amusement.

When Snape turned around and saw it, he stopped in his tracks. Sirius would even later swear that he seen his face pale at reading the words before turning toward the class again.

"Potter!" he barked. Nicole jerked up, her eyes wide as they stared up at Snape.

"Oh, shit, he's going to blame Nicole," Sirius whispered, nearly inaudibly, to Remus.

"Yes, sir?" Nicole said groggily.

"Detention, Miss Potter!" he said. Her eyes widened.

"For what? _Sleeping?_ Because you usually just take ten points off because you know detention gets both of us nowhere."

He walked toward her desk and put his hands on it, leaning toward her until they were only a few inches apart. But Nicole refused to look afraid and stared him down. Even Sirius had shrunk back a bit, and Demelza was sitting on the edge of her seat as far away from them as possible.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for _that_, and you know _exactly_ why you are getting a detention, and it isn't for sleeping."

"No, sir, I honestly don't know why," Nicole said honestly, staring him down as if she did this every day – which, by the looks of things, she probably did.

"Look – at – the – board." She broke eye contact finally to lean around him and read the message. Her face lit up instantly in silent laughter, and when he stared her down again, she only laughed more.

"Sir, I didn't do it!" she said between her breaths.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Because whoever did is a bloody _genius!_" Snape wasn't pleased. But Sirius was, for his face lit up.

"I _know_ it was you, Miss Potter, because only _you_ would have been told that that message was used when _I _was in school. You've obviously been learning a few tricks from a certain _ex-convict_." Nicole let out a bark of humorless laugher.

"You _know _Sirius was innocent," she said venomously, all amusement gone from her face. "And even if Sirius _did_ teach me that, do you honestly think I would use it so soon after – after June? No, I wouldn't."

"Then you've been learning from the _werewolf_." Nicole stood up quickly, fore when he had said "werewolf" he had said it with as much contempt as possible.

"_Don't talk about Remus like that!_" she hissed. "And do you honestly think he would teach me that?"

"I know it was you, Miss Potter, don't try to deny it. And I will talk about him however I want to." He paused. "Like father, like son and daughter, Miss Potter. You and your brother are exactly alike. Your father was always getting away with dirty tricks because he would have some _valid_ excuse for why he acted so terrible. But I won't allow it here, Miss Potter. Your father was an arrogant – !"

"Don't talk about my father like that!" Nicole yelled before she grabbed her bag and all but ran from the room. Before she reached the door, Snape drawled,

"Another detention, Miss Potter." Nicole pretended she didn't hear him as the door slammed behind her. Snape went back to his lecture like nothing had happened, and the students acted the same way.

"Must be a common occurrence," Sirius commented to Remus when Snape had his back turned. But Remus was still staring at the door.

"She truly is James' daughter."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Did you hear how she defended us and James?" Sirius nodded, frowning.

"You're right – only James would defend his friends with so much fierce," he said.

Just then, the bell rang, and the two left the classroom hurriedly.

They met up with James and Lily in the Common Room – they all had a free-period next – but before they could tell them what had happened, Lily said excitedly,

"We just met Harry! He was _so _nice! It's obvious he loves his friends an family fiercely, but hates that he is famous, especially for something he can't remember. He hates that he is always getting a ton of attention while Nicole is always shoved to the side. I can tell by his eyes, and the way he acts, and – !"

"Merlin, Lily, let the guys breathe," James laughed. "I think they get it, anyway. So how was Nicole?"

The recounted the events from Defense Against the Dark Arts, and when they were finished, Lily and James were speechless.

"She stood up for you guys? Just like that?" Lily finally asked. When Remus nodded, she smiled. "Just like her father." She squeezed James' hand. "I'm proud of her for doing so, because, even though it got her detentions, she should defend her friends and family."

"That's my girl," James muttered about Nicole, smiling. After a moment of silence, Sirius said,

"Oh, Lily." He reached into his pockets and pulled out some ingredients. Lily's eyes widened.

"You _already_ got them? How?" He shrugged, smiling mysteriously.

"Pranksters _never_ give away their secrets. He put the ingredients on the table in front of them. "Now get to work on that potion."

**A/N: So I'm not too pleased with this chapter, I just hope that you aren't _too _disappointed with it. Next chapter will be better, I hope...**

**So please read this part! It's _IMPORTANT!_ (I hope that got your attention.) I may be starting another FF, and, if I do, updates will start to get a little spacier, but I hope they will only be five days apart at most. I pride myself with my fast updates! But yeah, I just wanted to tell you this. **

**Until next time!**


	24. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: So I've decided to wait to start my new FF. I'm still going to write it but very slowly and probably won't post it for a bit. I have a one-track mind.**

**Thanks for the review: Hannahzzz – Good thing I have you to ask the things that I forget to mention! They were supposed to be mentioned last chapter, but I've now incorporated them into this chapter!**

Chapter 23

"I didn't do it, Hermione."

It was breakfast the next morning. The time-travelers were sitting next to Nicole when Hermione joined them and started to tell Nicole off for getting a detention already the day before.

"Then who did?" she asked furiously. "Who else knows about the _Marauders_ and _Snivellus_?"

"I don't know, Hermione, all I know is that _I _didn't do it! Sheesh, why won't anybody believe me?" Hermione rose her eyebrows.

"Because you hardly ever tell the truth about things like this."

"If there was one thing I learned from Fred and George," Nicole said, raising her eyebrows as well, "is that when you are confronted by your friends about a prank, you _always _admit it. When have I never admitted to doing something that I _did_ do?" Hermione seemed to contemplate this before she huffed and stormed off, irritated.

"Fred, he was your boyfriend, right?" Lily asked. It may seem like she just wanted to know, but James, Sirius, and Remus knew she wanted to know who her daughter's first boyfriend was.

"Yep," Nicole said, turning back toward them. "We dated for about six months last year."

"Why did you break up?"

"It was great at first – everything was going _perfectly, _even with George pretending to be Fred all of the time– but after a while we both agreed that what we felt for each other wasn't love," she answered simply. "So now we are just friends."

"Was he your first boyfriend?" Nicole narrowed her eyes slightly at all of the questions, but answered nonetheless.

"Yep. First and only, as of now."

"First kiss?" Nicole merely nodded, pushing her food around on her plate with her fork.

"What was it that he gave you in that memory?"

Nicole stopped all movement – it seemed that she didn't even breathe – for a moment before she sighed and looked up at them. Her eyes betrayed her great regret.

"For my thirteenth birthday – the day he asked me out, actually – he gave me a beautiful heart necklace. It was just the perimeter of the heart, but you could open it and it was a locket that you couldn't see. And inside there was a picture of my parents on their wedding day. It was the first picture of them I had ever been given – I still, to this day, don't know where he got it. I wore it every day."

She sighed again.

"After we broke up and just before he and George opened Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, he asked if he could see it. I didn't know at the time what he wanted with it, but I gave it to him anyway – I'd trust him with my life. He kept it for a few weeks, and then, as you saw, he gave it back to me. I put it in my pocket, and it must have fallen out somewhere in Diagon Alley, because the next thing I knew it was gone. I searched _everywhere_ for it, I even made my Godfather attempt to Summon it, but we never found it.

"I know now why he wanted it. If you ever go to his shop, you will see one of the most popular things are hats that are shields and cause jinxes – but not Dark Magic – to bounce off the wearer. He knew I wore the necklace every day, and put an even stronger shield charm on it than those so the only curses that it wasn't effective against were the Unforgivables."

She suddenly dug into her bag and pulled out a picture, which she handed to them. It was of her and one of the red-heads – more than likely Fred. They were lounging on the grass and laughing at something or other while sitting by the lake. The photographer had obviously gotten the picture when they weren't looking or suspecting it, for they were holding hands and not even looking in the photographer's direction.

But the picture was close enough for them to be able to see a glittering, silver, heart necklace around Nicole's neck.

"That's the necklace."

When she finished and Sirius gave her the picture back, Nicole went back to staring at her food again. She continued to push it around on her plate until she got up to go to class, leaving the time-travelers stunned that she would care enough about something she lost from somebody she supposedly didn't love.

* * *

"Come _on_!"

"No."

"Nicki, _please_? For me? I'll owe you one."

"You already owe me _fifty_. Now, unless you'd rather make it 51, go away."

The days had slipped by without much happening. Lily continued to make the potion. The time-travelers continued to learn more about Nicole and Harry, including the happenings of Harry's first three years of Hogwarts and Nicole's first, and that Nicole was often pushed aside because of Harry's status as the "boy – who – lived" but she tried to never complain about it.

Presently, it was a week before their potion was due to be done at breakfast on a Saturday– Harry was trying to convince Nicole to try out for the Quidditch team that day, but she kept refusing.

"_Please?_"

"NO! Now I'm sure I'm not the only one you are annoying, so, for the sake of others, _leave me alone_!"

"Not until you agree to at least try out."

"Then I guess you'll be following me to _every_where, even to use the bathroom." Harry made a disgusted face, and Nicole couldn't help but laugh.

"_Why not?" _he whined.

"Because," she said, putting food onto Ron's plate, trying to get him to eat something, but he was too nervous about tryouts to eat anything. "If you force me to tryout, and there are three people for Chaser who are better than me, you'll put me on the team anyway because you feel bad for making me try out even if I'm not the best, and I'd rather have a team that can beat Slytherin even if I'm not on it."

"But you're good enough to make it on pure talent!" Harry said. "You've even beat me to the snitch when we play at the Borrow!"

"Yes, but that's when I'm playing Seeker, which you are, aren't you? And I can't beat you because you're _captain, _so I'd have to try out as Chaser, which I suck at." Nicole shook her head and walked away, ignoring his pleas after her.

"Tough luck, mate," Sirius said as Harry slumped down next to him. "But I'm sure you'll find somebody else to replace her that is just as good."

"Nobody could replace Nicole," Harry huffed. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned back to James, Remus, and Lily.

"I think, before we leave, we should visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," he whispered so only they could hear. "Because I want to see it before we go back, it sounds awesome, and we need to get some joke items to take back to our time." James nodded his head vigorously.

"Yes, good idea."

"But how would we get there and get back?" Lily asked. "I mean, I don't have a problem with going to this store, but getting there and back is an issue."

"Well," Remus said thoughtfully. "Since Dumbledore's potion is going to be ready before ours, we could leave him the note, take ours and sneak out to Hogsmeade where we could Apparate to Diagon Alley and stay until the potion is ready."

So, with their plan established, all they needed was to perform it. Sirius somehow got a portable cauldron ("Where did you get that?" Lily asked. "You didn't steal it, did you?" Sirius shook his head, but winked at James behind Lily's back) that they transferred the potion too. They already knew the secret passages out of the school into Hogsmeade and how to Apparate, so all they had left was to write the note and leave it for Dumbledore.

The day they got the letter telling them the potion was ready and to be up at Dumbledore's office at seven that night ready to leave to go back to their time.

"_Professor Dumbledore,_

_We found another way back to 1980 on our own. Thanks for your time! See you soon – well we will see you, but you won't be seeing us._

_Your time-traveling friends," _

Sirius read as he wrote out the note at six that night, just before they left. James laughed at the absurdness and subtly of it, but Remus ripped it out of his hands and threw it into the fire. It was Lily's turn to read as she wrote,

"_Professor Dumbledore,_

_We are very sorry, but we couldn't allow you to wipe our memories of this life-altering event. It is not that we want to change the future – which we do, but we will not change it – but it is that we want to have memories of our children before we are murdered and wish for them to have memories of us, even if they do not know it._

_So we have been making the same potion alongside you, but in secret. It is not quite finished, but it will be tonight and we intend to take it then. Sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused you._

_Lily – "_

"Can we at least sign it 'your time-traveling friends?" Sirius asked. Lily rolled her eyes, but said, as she wrote,

"_Your time-traveling friends_." Sirius whooped but Remus silenced him.

"You guys ready to go?" he asked. When they nodded, he led them down to the grounds and into the passageway under the Whomping Willow. They were so tall that they had to crawl through it, which was a difficulty for Lily.

Finally, they made it to the Shrieking Shack, which was so full of dust they all had sneeze-attacks. After what felt like a full hour of sneezing, they sneaked out to Hogsmeade, where they sent the letter to Dumbledore at the post office and Apparated to Diagon Alley.

The usual bright, thrilling Diagon Alley had changed drastically. It now resembled a black-and-white photo from the Depression – simply depressing. There were Ministry posters all over, glued to walls and taped to windows. Everything was brown and grey.

Except one shop, and they all knew which it was instantly.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Sirius read quietly as they stared up at the brightly, colored, popping and crackling windows of the store. Even with Hogwarts in session, kids poured in and out of the store, laughing and throwing things at each other.

Sirius and James jogged into the store like tons of the younger children there, with Remus and Lily following, laughing and shaking their heads at them.

When the two entered after their friends, they saw them staring with wide eyes and open mouths, practically drooling over the shop. Remus and Lily took to searching the walls while James and Sirius ran around, showing each other random things and laughing at everything they saw.

Before long, the two managed to get over their hyper-ness enough to spot the Weasley twins – one at the check-out counter, the other talking to some young girls looking at love potions.

"You must be Mr. Weasley," Sirius said as the girls left, paying for the love potions and giggling. The twin turned to them and grinned.

"Yep, that's me – Fred Weasley at your service." They each shook hands with him and then James said,

"Now are you really Fred, or are you George pretending to be Fred?" James asked. The twin smiled.

"Ah, we have true pranksters here, for they knew that I was really George before they even met me. Oi, Fred, come here!" The other twin swooped down beside him – by this time, Remus and Lily had joined their companions. "These boys here knew I was George when I said I was Fred without even knowing me."

"Ah, true pranksters you must be," Fred said excitedly. "Fred Weasley."

"Are you really Fred?" Lily asked. Fred nodded.

"Yes, my lovely lady, I am, who's asking?"

"Lizzy Evans," she answered shortly. "So you're the Fred Weasley that Nicole Potter mentioned!"

"How do you know Nick?" Fred asked.

"We transferred to Hogwarts this year. We met her there."

"If you're a Hogwarts students, why are you here?" George asked, confused.

"We found a way into Hogsmeade and snuck out. Once there, we Apparated here – we may be underage, but we know how to Apparate."

Fred and George were speechless, but before they could say anything, the sunlight came through the window, hit something shinny, and reflected into James' eyes. He blinked, looking around, and saw that it was coming from somewhere behind the cage of the Pygmy puffs.

Ignoring the strange looks he got from his companions and the twins, James walked toward it. He stuck his finger in the Pygmy puff cage, pretending that it was them he was after, but with his other hand picked up the shinny object.

"Pygmy puffs," George explained. "They're quite cuddly, but mostly girls buy them. Our sister took a great liking to them." James nodded once, putting the shinny object into his pocket while they weren't looking, and then quickly turning to Lily.

"Is the potion almost done?" he asked her quietly while Sirius was talking to the twins. She nodded.

"It's done," she whispered back. "But I don't want to announce that in front of the twins."

James told Sirius and Remus separately and quietly. James and Sirius bought a few things before finding a secluded corner of Diagon Alley to take the potion in.

"What was that object you put in your pocket, James?" Lily asked as she poured the right amount of the sickly yellow-green potion into each of the four cups the boys held before vanishing the rest and taking a cup from James.

James reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver chain with a familiar silver heart on it. Lily gasped.

"Where did you find that?"

"In the store behind the Pygmy puff cage. I'm going to give it back to her – in our time – but I'm not going to tell her that _I_ found it. Not yet, anyway." He stuck the necklace back into his pocket and said,

"On the count of three?" They all nodded. "One – two – three!" They shoved the disgusting potion down, felt the familiar pull behind their naval, were lifted into the air and then slammed back down to the ground...

**A/N: Sorry that it's kinda short, I had to end it there!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	25. Order Business

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I had a slight change in the last chapter – Fred would have asked Nicole out on her _fourteenth _birthday, not thirteenth. Not a huge deal overall, just thought I'd tell you guys.**

**Unfortunately, I won't have time to update tomorrow – I have dance from 5 through 9:30.**

**Thanks for the review: Hannahzzz – Thank you! I'm starting to look forward to your review for every chapter:)**

Chapter 24

The force of the landing caused them all to stagger backward – Remus and Sirius even fell onto their bottoms, and James grabbed Lily to keep her from falling onto hers.

"I guess, in a way, that potion _did _work," Sirius said as he stood up and glanced around Severus' now ruined office. "We found out if you were having a girl or boy."

"Yes," Remus said as Sirius reached out a hand to help him up, which he grabbed gratefully. "That's true, but look what it did to Snape's office. He – is going – to _kill_ us."

"We still need to take the Glamor Charms off," Lily pointed out, decided it was best to change the subject at that moment, as she rose her wand. With four flicks of her wand, they were all back to their original looks.

Just then, the door burst open and Severus ran in, glanced once around the room, and then scowled at Sirius and James.

"What did you do Black, Potter?"

Remus patted Sirius' shoulder.

"Good luck, mate," he whispered.

"Uh, well," Sirius said uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back again. "The baby kicked and I knocked something into the potion and it kinda – well, it exploded. But we found out the sex of the baby!" He added the last part happily, throwing his hands into the air like a child, hoping it would save him from any scolding or curses.

Severus scowled, waving the wand he had just pulled out of his pockets, and everything in his office returned to it's normal position in the blink of an eye.

"I could care less about the sex of Potter's baby. But, let me guess – it's a boy?"

"How did you know?" James asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

Did Snape know?

Severus shrugged.

"Intuition," he said simply, but the four thought that there was probably a different reason – one that they were certain they knew. "Now, since you are done here, if you don't mind, would you please leave? I have some important things I must do." The four nodded and left the room quickly.

They hurried along the corridors and toward Dumbledore's office – they were going to floo back to James and Lily's house from his office. Once they reached the stone gargoyle, they had to pause for a moment, trying to remember the password – it may have only been a few minutes – if even that – in this time that they had been gone, but that had been in the other time for a month.

Finally, Sirius remembered the password.

"Cockroach clusters!" he barked, and then led them up the moving staircase. At the top, he lifted his hand to knock on the door, but stopped when he heard what he heard next:

"_He's got Regulus!_ I'm _not_ going to sit around here and _wait_ for them to _kill_ him!"

Cold dread filled Sirius, flowing through his veins like white-hot irons, causing him more pain than he had ever imagined that dread could cause. _He's got Regulus…_

"How do you even know they have Regulus?" Dumbledore said. "I thought you've been staying hidden, remember? You're supposed to be a _prisoner_?"

"I'm not stupid," Nicole spat. They could just see Dumbledore nodding patiently, even if Nicole was practically in hysterics – they almost thought she was even crying. "When he didn't come back by three after leaving this morning for 'Order business' when he said he would be home at noon, I knew that something was wrong. Plus, Sev told me."

"And did Severus tell you _why _they need Mr. Black?"

"He didn't _need_ to – it's obvious, or are you too blind to see it?" Nicole yelled, frustrated. "He thinks that Sirius is Lily and James' secret-keeper and is trying to use Regulus to get to him! He's practically saying to Sirius: 'Choose one – your best friend, his wife and unborn-child, or your brother!' Who could choose one of those?"

"And what do you want me to do? I can't get into Malfoy Manor, and if you want me to tell him where Lily and James are, I'm afraid I cannot do that – "

"Duh!" Now they were sure she was crying, or at least _had_ been crying – even though her voice hadn't _quite_ broken there, they could tell by the way her voice had sounded – as though this was the worst thing that had ever happened to her. "Not that I want them dead to begin with – though at the moment I couldn't care less if James was alive or dead."

James realized just then how bad he had treated his daughter – if she actually wanted him, her own father, dead, that was bad.

"But _I_ can get into Malfoy Manor and save him! And I don't care if I blow my cover, I'm going to get him out of there – _before _Sirius finds out and goes crazy or tries to help."

The door burst open, and Nicole ran out – so fast she was merely a blur – running into James on her way out.

"Watch out!" she spat at him without turning around.

"Ah, James, Remus, Sirius, Lily," they heard Dumbledore say. They all turned back to him slowly to see him smiling, but without the usual twinkle in his eyes. "I expected you soon. Have you finished the potion?"

"Yes, sir," Remus answered as he steered a shocked and still unmoving Sirius into the room before pushing him onto the only chair there. He knew Lily and James had followed him in as he heard the door shut.

"And?"

"It's a boy, sir," James said, only his voice wasn't thrilled; not an ounce of it sounded thrilled – it was completely devoid of expression, actually. "Though I think you knew that."

"Really? Why do you think that?" James sighed, running his fingers through his hair frustratingly, before he conjured up three more chairs for himself, Lily, and Remus, pushed Lily into one, and slumped grumpily into another while Remus sat quietly in the other.

"Because, sir, we _know_." Dumbledore frowned – they knew it was a shock to him, and that he was probably wondering if they were talking about what he thought they were.

"You _know_? Know what?" James sighed again before launching into the full story – how the baby started to kick, how the time-sand got knocked into the potion, how they went back in time – with the occasional help from Remus and Lily – Sirius still hadn't said anything, and they all knew why.

At the end, Dumbledore smiled again – but his eyes still held no twinkle, and instead showed how tired and desperate he truly was and how the war had a toll on everybody, even Dumbledore – _especially _Dumbledore.

"Well, at least we no longer have to worry about you finding out," he said half-heartedly. Then he suddenly frowned again. "Please, don't tell Nicole right now. She's going through a lot, she's been though a lot, and now that – " He caught himself before he gave it away.

"Voldemort's got Regulus," Sirius said, nodding and tearing his eyes away from the wall he had been staring at to finally to look at Dumbledore, speaking for the first time. Dumbledore looked down at his hands and nodded slowly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't have to find out until he was out, Sirius. I'm sorry." And he truly looked sorry, too. "And don't try to help, okay? There is nothing you can do. I'm going to talk to Nicole and Severus and we will figure something out. But _please_ leave it to us – don't try to help, because you will only be causing more trouble than anything."

* * *

**(Back to Nicole's POV finally.)**

The next big thing happened on the first of February. I knew that Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius were at Hogwarts finishing the potion so they could find out the sex of the baby – that or they were coming later, or had already been there. Whichever it was, I didn't care at the slightest at that time. I had bigger issues to deal with.

Since they were at Hogwarts, I was stuck at home, all by myself while Regulus was out on some Order business that he had refused to tell me.

"I promise I will be back by noon," he had said earlier that morning. "It's nothing big." Then he kissed me briefly and Disapparated directly from the kitchen.

I couldn't rest, and when he didn't show up by three, I was so worried that I flooed to Dumbledore's office. He wasn't there, but I didn't care. I had no intention of talking to him – he couldn't help me.

I ran down the corridors until I got to the potions room, where I threw the door open and walked in, ignoring the stares from the class of Ravenclaw and Slytherin third years that Severus was teaching and said forcefully,

"I need to talk to you."

Luckily, just then, the bell rang, and Severus had a free period next hour. The class shuffled out, giving me strange looks as I approached their teacher.

"Please," I said quietly so the nearest Ravenclaw student, who was gathering up her things, couldn't hear me. "Please go to Malfoy Manor quickly and make sure Regulus isn't there." He sighed and said,

"Nick, listen – "

"Don't _'Nick, listen' _me, mister!" I said, putting my hands on my hips, like a mother scolding a misbehaving child. "He didn't come home from the fucking _'Order business' _and Dumbledore will _KILL_ me if I go anywhere _near_ Malfoy Manor!" The last student in the room, who as at the door by that time and was the Ravenclaw girl who had been nearby earlier, turned and gave me a strange look – I didn't care if she had overheard or not. Nobody would believe her if she told them anyway.

Severus sighed, defeated.

"Fine."

So I walked with him to the Whomping Willow and then through the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack – it was easier to take this way, a way nobody would no, than it was to take a way that _every_body would know and where we would be seen.

Once there, he Disapparated immediately, and I was left to sit and wait on the four-poster bed that Ron had been on during my first visit into the Shack my first year, when Sirius and Remus had proved to us that Sirius was really innocent and where Wormtail showed up.

The wait _killed _me – literally, if I would have been left there for a second longer, I would have gone to Malfoy Manor myself.

I kept glancing at my watch – okay, so I kept glancing at _Sirius's _watch that I still had. Each second lasted a year, each minute an eternity. In ten eternities – really only ten _minutes_ – Severus returned. I stood up quickly and knew instantly from his face the answer to the question that was on the tip of my tongue. I didn't even have time to ask.

They had him.

My heart _literally _stopped – I couldn't breathe for several moments.

Was this because of _me_? Did Voldemort know that I was really on the Light side? If so, how? What had tipped him off? And if he didn't know, would Regulus somehow tip him off?

And then it suddenly hit me – I knew _exactly _why.

Sirius.

He thought that _Sirius wa_s secret-keeper.

He wanted to break him.

He wanted to get him to tell him the location of the Potter's.

But Sirius _couldn't_ tell him. Only Dumbledore could.

"Shit, damn, _FUCK!_" I screamed as I ran from the room, back through the passage and into the castle. I knew Severus was on my trail, for he kept calling after me, telling me that "we could save him" and that "he was going to be alright" but I didn't believe any of it.

As I passed the dungeons, I heard an explosion from Severus's office.

Of course, Sirius and James _would _blow up his office right then.

I would normally find humor in that situation, but right then I couldn't even smile at it – I didn't know if I would ever be able to smile again.

My heart was breaking as I raced up the wooden steps and to the stone gargoyle.

What if they killed Regulus?

He was my support system. I couldn't live without him. I didn't want to live without him. I decided that I _wouldn't_ live without him.

Then I realized how utterly _selfish _that I was being.

I should be thinking about Regulus, not myself.

What if they tortured him?

Compared to that, death would be welcome by anybody. I would rather Regulus be dead than experience that pain.

I wouldn't wish that on _anybody_, even Voldemort himself, and I hoped that they wouldn't put Regulus through that. It wasn't so bad after you had been under it for hours a time for nine days straight, but it was still painful.

Too painful.

Regulus shouldn't have to feel that. He didn't deserve it. He was a good person.

Nobody should have to feel that.

"Cockroach cluster!" I shrieked at the stone gargoyle, kicking it as I ran up the steps – which did nothing besides cause me to yell at my now sore toe and make me angrier.

I just hoped Dumbledore was back in his office.

I didn't even knock; I just threw the door open.

Luckily, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, staring at the door as if he had expected me – there was even a chair in front of his desk for me to sit in.

He said something, but I had slammed the door and didn't hear it as I slumped into the chair.

Then, tears started to pour out of my eyes. I had been holding them in, and no longer could.

"Nicole, what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked softly when he saw my tears.

"H – h – he – he – !" But I couldn't say anymore as I let out a choked-sob. I buried my face in my hands, resting my elbows on his desk, and sobbed harder, my shoulders shaking.

Dumbledore didn't say anything until my sobs subsided to mere sniffles. I could finally speak coherent words and then sentences, and I brought my face out of my hands, whipping the tears out of my eyes and off of my cheeks.

"What's wrong?" he asked again, quieter this time.

"He – he's got Regulus." Dumbledore immediately frowned.

Suddenly, anger filled me – I could have prevented this if Dumbledore would have let me leave the fucking house!

I wasn't necessarily mad at _Dumbledore_, I was just mad. Mostly at myself, I think.

I stood up quickly, the chair getting pushed back loudly as I did so, and leaned forward with my palms on Dumbledore's desk.

"_He's got Regulus!_ I'm _not_ going to sit around here and _wait_ for them to _kill_ him!" I yelled, leaning closer to him.

"How do you even know they have Regulus?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I thought you've been staying hidden, remember? You're supposed to be a prisoner?"

"I'm not stupid," I spat in his face. Dumbledore nodded, even though I was in hysterics. "When he didn't come back after 'Order business' I knew something was wrong. Plus, Sev told me."

"And did Severus tell you _why _they need Mr. Black?"

Ugh, wasn't that pretty obvious?

"He didn't _need_ to – it's obvious, or are you too blind to see it?" I yelled, even though I knew that Dumbledore knew why they needed Regulus. "He thinks that Sirius is Lily and James' secret-keeper and is trying to use Regulus to get to him! He's practically saying to Sirius: 'Choose one – your best friend, his wife and unborn-child, or your brother!' Who could choose one of those?"

I sure couldn't – I would never be able to – I'd have to give myself up instead.

"And what do you want me to do?" he asked patiently.

How could he be so _calm_? I was going _crazy_ here!

"I can't get into Malfoy Manor – " obviously " – and if you want me to tell him where Lily and James are, I'm afraid I cannot do that – "

"Duh! Not that I want them dead to begin with – though at the moment I couldn't care less if James was alive or dead."

Oh, I really didn't mean that – he had to be alive so I could be born.

Just kidding, even though that was true – I was too harsh there – it was a tough time, you never knew who to believe. I forgave him. But if he ever apologized I would make him suffer by telling him that I _didn't _forgive him. It's what he deserved, anyway.

I only said that because I was angry, and everybody says things they don't mean when they are angry, or stressed, or afraid – which I was all of.

"But _I_ can get into Malfoy Manor and save him!" I continued, walking toward the door and putting my hand onto the knob before turning around again. "And I don't care if I blow my cover – " I really didn't care. " – I'm going to get him out of there – _before _Sirius finds out and goes crazy or tries to help."

I stormed out of the door, not realizing that James, Lily, Remus and Sirius were on the other side and running into James on my way out.

"Watch out!" I spat, not caring if it was rude – at the moment, all I cared about was Regulus.

**A/N: In case you didn't read this at the top: Unfortunately, I won't have time to update tomorrow – I have dance from 5 through 9:30.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	26. Malfoy Manor

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Didn't think I would actually get this posted tonight because I had issues writing the last half – or last _bit _– I couldn't decide on some things. **

**Thanks Hannahzzz for the review! **

Chapter 25

So I ran...

And ran...

And ran...

I ran throughout Hogwarts, not knowing, or caring, exactly where I was going. It was already past-curfew, so I only came across a few students, and those whom I did were Prefects or Head Boy/Girl. They didn't question me, even if I may look like a student – I was still 15, after all.

I think I halfway wanted to run into Severus, for now that Regulus was gone, I would have to turn to him. What was with all the Slytherin boys being the ones I could turn to, anyway? Next thing I know I'd be best friends – or dating – Draco Malfoy in my time (Oh please let me get back to my time and find that is not true!)!

Finally, I found myself huffing for breath down by the kitchens. I contemplated going in, but then decided that it probably wasn't the best idea at the moment – I just needed to be alone and not surrounded by house elves.

I finally realized that I needed to go back home and devise a plan so I could go to Malfoy Manor to save Regulus, and the only way to do that was to floo from Dumbledore's office.

So I had to march my way back up to his office, where I entered without knocking once again, hoping he was still in there. He was, but he wasn't alone.

James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius were still there. They seemed as shocked to see me as I was to see them, but I refused to show it.

"I – I just – I wanted – I'll just wait outside," I stammered grimly, still shocked. I closed the door and sat down with my back against the wall – one knee straight out and one bent up.

I hadn't realized how tired I was until then, and the running hadn't helped. I leaned my head back and rested it on the wall behind the back of my head on it. My eyes drooped, and I felt sleep overpowering me. I tried to fight it, but my attempts were futile...

"We can't move her!

"Just wake her up!"

"I don't want to wake her up!"

"Should we leave her there?"

"Oh yes, just _leave_ her on the steps to Dumbledore's office!"

I heard voices arguing. Was I dreaming, or was this real life? I couldn't tell. At least, I couldn't tell until I slowly opened my eyes.

Standing over me were the concerned faces of James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius. Impulsively, I quickly jumped to my feet, but did so a little too quickly. A wave of dizziness coursed over me – the world seemed to spin around me, and I wobbled on my feet before I felt a firm hand clasp my left arm between my shoulder and elbow to steady me.

I leaned against the wall until I got my vision back and could walk again on my own. The hand on my arm remained there, though, as if to make sure I was alright. Only when I saw that it was James who held onto me did I jerk my arm away. James didn't seemed shocked that I had pulled away, but did seem a little hurt. I didn't understand why he had helped me or why he seemed hurt, but didn't dwell on it because he asked softly,

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said rudely before turning on my heel, opening Dumbledore's door, and nearly slamming it behind me.

I had lost track of how many times I had slammed that door – I guess you could probably say truthfully that I have anger issues.

I didn't even look to see if Dumbledore was there – instead, I walked to the fireplace, took a handful of floo powder from the vase that I knew that Dumbledore kept it in, threw it into the fire, and flooed back home, where I went upstairs, but not to my room.

Instead, I went to Regulus' room.

Even though I had been the room millions of times before, it all seemed so foreign to me; the dark green walls, the silver curtains and bedding, the bookshelves lining all open wall space, the large window that opened to the long, hilly backyard we had, the desk facing the window lined with blank and used pieces of parchment, quills, and ink – Regulus may not still believe in "pure-blood supremacy" but he still was in and liked Slytherin, no matter how much he hung out with us or _told _us that he thought Gryffindor was better.

I closed the door slowly, breathing in Regulus' familiar yet unfamiliar scent. After closing the curtains around the window, I sat down slowly in the wooden desk chair.

After a long moment of staring out of the crack between the two curtains, I suddenly pulled a piece of parchment toward me, grabbed the nearest quill, and stuck it in a bottle Regulus' favorite green ink before furiously writing on the parchment...

* * *

Lightning lit up the dark gray sky. A clash of thunder sounded not minutes after, so loud it shook the ground beneath my feet. The rain poured down in sheets, soaking me to the bone within seconds. Even with my hood up to cover my face, my hair and face were soaked.

But I didn't let the dreary weather hinder me, for, if I did, Regulus' life would be in more danger than it already was.

The manor loomed in the distance, the lights ghostly illuminating the darkness. My feet sloshed in the puddles of water and mud as I walked swiftly toward the manor. Once at the gate, I put my left hand on the lock, which sprang apart upon my touch. I locked it again behind me as I sloshed up the long walk to the front door.

I didn't knock – was I supposed to? I didn't know. If I hadn't been replaced within the past two weeks, then I would be forgiven as soon as I was spotted.

Even though it seemed all of the lights were on from the outside – and from the inside as well – as I walked through the castle, it was eerily quiet. I didn't pass anybody as I walked toward the usual drawing room, but I changed my mind halfway there and instead walked back toward the entrance hall and to the dungeons.

I wanted to see Regulus. Even if I couldn't talk to him or acknowledge him in any way, I wanted to see him. He wouldn't recognize me anyway – I had my hood up and down so low it was covering my face from my my nose up, but high enough so I could see.

I entered the long hallway slowly and quietly. I walked slowly down it, glancing into each cell on each side as I passed; a Muggle family, some muggleborns that had been a few years younger than me at Hogwarts when I was there in this time, an empty cell, a Death Eater who had tried to run, another empty cell, an Order member I had only met once and didn't remember the name of, and, in the final cell on the right side, was Regulus.

His robes were tattered and ripped, and he had dirt and grime covering almost every inch of his face and all visible skin. I could already tell he had been subjected to the Cruciatus. He looked extremely tired and was sitting with his back against the far wall and glared at me as I walked by.

"What?" he snarled when he caught me staring. I was shocked he had been so rude to me for a moment before I realized that I was just another Death Eater to him. I stepped closer to the bars, and, to my surprise, he didn't flinch back when I looked between two of the bars and spat,

"You better watch what you say, Black, for you never know what words will be your last."

I had tried to make my voice unrecognizable to even him by making it gravelly and more masculine, but I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes before it turned to hatred.

"What, thinking of your little _girlfriend _left all by her little lonesome without her lover?" I said in a mock-baby voice – similar to Bellatrix's – in the same voice I had used before – this time he didn't seem to recognize it. I stepped even closer to the bars. "You know she's really on the Dark Lord's side, right? It's all an act." Why I was compelled to say that, I don't know. Maybe I wanted to see his reaction, maybe I wanted to make it seem like the Death Eaters really did trust me as much as they seemed to, I never did find out.

Regulus laughed humorlessly.

"You're the ones who have got it all wrong," he said coldly and quietly. "She's on Dumbledore's side. But you follow her blindly. You're all idiots, the whole lot of you."

"What would you think if we brought your little girlfriend in here to torture her?" Only then did his eyes show a flicker of fear, mixed with anger and hatred. "Exactly. So you better shut your fucking mouth before I do exactly that."

I spun on my heel and walked out the opposite way I had come so as not to seem conspicuous.

Once I got back upstairs, I followed through with my original plan of looking for somebody in the drawing room. But that plan was, once again, quickly abandoned when I ran into Severus in the entrance hall – and when I say _ran into, _I mean literally.

I had been lost in thought – as he must have been as well – and we ran head first into each other.

"Watch it," we snarled at the same time. But I had forgotten my fake voice, and he recognized my real voice.

"Hey!" I said as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the closest room, which turned out to be one of the unused guest bedrooms.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a whisper, pushing my hood down. "You're such an idiot, you know that? You can't rescue him alone!"

"And why not?" I said, pulling my wrist out of his grasp and putting my hands on my hips in a Mrs. Weasley-ish manor.

"He has Death Eaters _everywhere_, you'll be seen."

"I haven't run into any yet – except you. And I don't care if I'm seen, I just want to get him out of here alive."

"I know that!" he whispered, annoyed. "But you'll get _both _of you killed if you try to do this by yourself."

"What are you saying?" I asked rudely. "That I'm supposed to just _leave _him there? I don't think so, mister." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm suggesting that I help you." I paused, thinking.

"Well, I did have that plan that took me a whole _hour_ to make and probably _wasn't _going to work," I said jokingly. "So why not?"

I stuck my hand out and we shook in a deal. Severus' lips pulled up into a light smile.

"You know, you can find a way to make any situation fun." I shrugged.

* * *

We spent the next couple minutes in that room making a "battle plan," as I had forced Severus to call it – even if we didn't plan on having a battle (key words: didn't _plan_) – and as soon as we had _somewhat _of an idea of what we wanted to do, we split to do our jobs.

I walked toward the drawing room, where Severus said Voldemort was spending all of his time, and saw the door cracked slightly, but knocked anyway.

"What?" his irritated voice called out. Instead of responding, I poked my head in the door, and as soon as he saw me, he smiled, somewhat creepily – okay, _very _creepily. "Nicole. Nice to see you again. What took you so long?" I entered, closing the door behind me and standing right in front of him before answering,

"Dumbledore still thinks I am on his side, even after I practically _declared _my allegiance to you. So he told me that I was to pretend to be _prisoner _until he told me I could come here. I only did so so that I could keep my position in the Order. But I eventually got bored and came back anyway against his orders. He will probably _still _think I am on his side afterward though." Voldemort nodded.

"We have a new prisoner," he said. "I believe you know him."

"Oh?" I asked, pretending to be genuinely interested. "Who?"

"Regulus Black." I purposefully smiled.

"Great."

"Really? You're pleased?" he said, shocked.

"Course. Why do you seem so shocked?"

"I thought that you'd be upset about that."

"Why would I be upset with that?"

"Because you used to be friends with him."

"So?" I asked, shrugging. "I hate the kid now. I'm glad you have him, and would gladly be the one to kill him." Voldemort smiled.

"I'm glad you learn to get over your old friendships. When it comes time, _you _may be the one to kill him." Suddenly, he reached toward the bookshelf nearby and pulled out –

"The diary," I muttered under my breath so only I could hear.

He handed it to me.

"Nicole – take this. Put it with the cup I've given you – you remember? Guard it with your _life_. If there comes a day when I am no longer around – which there won't be, but as a precaution – give it to a student in Hogwarts. It matters not who."

Just as he finished, Lucius ran into the room in a frenzy.

"My lord! The boundaries have been breeched by somebody with no Dark Mark! Severus claims he saw members of the Order!"

Severus had played his part well – raise the alarm, claim that he saw Order members, and I figured he had gotten his last part done just as well – confound or put the Imperious on several Death Eaters that nobody would miss, tell them to cover their faces with robes like those of the Order, and invade the manor. We didn't care if they got killed – they were Death Eaters after all.

Voldemort stood up and said,

"Prepare the manor for battle, Lucius. Nicole, check on the prisoners in the basement." That was easier than I had expected; I thought they were going to post Severus and I somewhere else and we would have to pretend to fight our way down there because we heard they were trying to let all of them free.

"Yes, my lord," I said.

I ran out of the room quickly, shoving the diary into the large inner pocket of my robes.

There was commotion _everywhere _on the outside of the drawing room – I would almost call it chaos. It wasn't far from it, at least.

I ran through the chaos toward the dungeons. Every Death Eater I passed gave me strange looks – they were probably wondering where I had come from, when I had gotten back, or, for the new faces that I didn't recognize, who the hell I was.

Once I got into the dungeons, I was finally alone. It was still loud, though, and I silently summoned Regulus' wand to me. It flew into my outstretched hand and I pocketed it and pulled out my wand.

I considered pulling my hood back up, but decided against it. It would be best if Regulus could tell who I was instantly instead of trying to convince him it was me.

Sweat rolled down my forehead and cheek, but I ignored it. How could it possibly be _this _hot at the beginning of February? I didn't understand – maybe I was coming down with a fever. But I didn't care at the moment.

I ran passed the cells before Regulus' as the bangs started ahead. Only one specific spell could be made out – "a_vada kedavra_" – but that didn't surprise me in the least.

The prisoners in the cells were all standing by the bars to their cells, looking upstairs worriedly. I wasn't worried until I heard it all suddenly stop, and confused voices were echoing from above.

"_Shit_!" I said.

I had reached Regulus' cell by then. The lock opened and the door sprang open without me even having to touch it or get my wand out. Regulus stood inside, shocked at my presence.

"Nicole! What – ?"

"No time to explain!" I said quietly. "They're already getting suspicious – !"

"It was a hoax! Somebody tricked us!" somebody from upstairs yelled.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming down the steps of the dungeons toward us.

I froze.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	27. Malfoy Manor 2

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I think this story is starting to come to a close. Not _quite _yet, but soon. There will probably be 30 or so chapters – unless I come up with a way to make it longer – any ideas? Message me/review to tell me if you do! **

**I'm considering a prequel or sequel if I can come up with any good ideas for it.**

**Thanks ixamxeverywhere and Hannahzzz for the reviews!**

Chapter 26

The only thing I could think was _shit – shit – shit!_

The footsteps got louder and I knew whoever it was would soon be at the cell Regulus and I were in. There wasn't enough time to close and lock the door and find a way to hide me.

I could now see their shadow as they walked slowly toward us – I wondered why they were walking so slow.

My heart sped up to an unnatural rate. Good thing I wasn't old – this would probably cause me a heart attack if I was. Then I realized that wizards probably didn't even haveheart attacks.

I decided at the last minute that I would have to curse them if I wanted Regulus and I to get out of here alive. I shoved Regulus' wand into his hand. He stood unmoving, staring at his wand, still shocked that I was there, and now even more shocked – if that was even possible – that I had his wand.

He wouldn't be much help. I hoped that it was somebody I could easily take by myself if it came to a full out fight.

A final footstep, and then around the corner appeared –

"Severus!" I hissed. "You're going to give me a heart attack!" Severus wasn't amused.

"They know it was a hoax."

"Yeah, I'm not deaf," I said, rubbing my now slowing down heart.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Severus asked me, joining Regulus and I in the cell – Regulus now seemed even _more_ shocked at seeing Severus. "If they don't see us, they'll know it was us that let Regulus out!"

I had to think for a moment before I said slowly, my eyebrows furrowed as if I was deep in thought – which I was, obviously –

"What if they _do _see us? They can't blame us then!"

Severus sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I should have knownthat you would be no help – !"

"No!" I said quietly and urgently, glancing down the now empty hallway. "If they see _us_ – " I pointed at Severus and then myself, flicking my hand back and forth over and over, " – then they can't blame us!" He continued to stare at me blankly.

I sighed, rubbing my now throbbing forehead like Severus had previously done.

"_Tons _of Death Eaters wear their hoods up continuously, even in the manor, right?" He nodded slowly, seeming to slowly get it. "Well we can transfigure or Summon some robes for Regulus to wear, he can cover his face and – !"

" – and you and I could go out there with our hoods down," Severus said, _finally_ catching on to what I was trying to say.

"Hang on," Regulus said, furrowing his eyebrows, "why can't we just Apparate out from here?"

"You can't!" I whispered back. "It's like Hogwarts – you can't Apparate or Disapparate here! You have to get outside of the grounds." Regulus groaned – he obviously hadn't thought of that.

Severus must have transfigured some robes while I was explaining this to Regulus, for he suddenly shoved them into Regulus' hands.

"Put these on, cover your face, and _don't say anything_." Regulus did as he was told, and just as he finished throwing the robes on, we heard the footsteps of another person coming toward us from the other side of the dungeons.

We all froze, none of us sure what to do once they saw us.

As the person got closer and we saw their shadow, I saw that it was definitely a girl – the way she walked and the long hair gave her away.

We didn't even have time to raise our wands before we saw Bellatrix come around the corner. She glanced around the cell and asked roughly,

"Where's Black?" When none of us answered, she asked again, "_Where's Bla – ?_"

"How do you expect us to know?" I asked rudely, interrupting her. "We came down here to make sure that all of the prisoners were still here and he was gone." Annoyed – and clearly disbelieving – Bellatrix huffed and walked away – actually, it was more like _stomped _away.

"Moody much?" I muttered under my breath when she was gone.

"No time for Bellatrix-bashing right now," Severus said as he led the way out of the cell. I rolled my eyes before following him and Regulus.

Surprisingly, Severus led us straight to the drawing room where Voldemort seemed to live. The commotion had calmed down quite a bit, but people were still milling around trying to figure out what had happened.

He was alone in the room, again. He didn't even acknowledge us as we entered.

"Black has escaped, my lord," Severus said.

Oh, I understood what he was playing at now – he was trying to make our story to Bellatrix plausible by taking it to Voldemort next.

Voldemort nodded, looking out the large window at Lucius' peacocks on the other side grazing in the field.

"So Bellatrix tells me. He can't get out of the grounds. Besides, it might actually be a good thing that he is gone, for now we have room for those who were caught under the Imperious and trying to curse us. They will be punished, of course, but we will first get information out of them. _One_ of them has got to know who cursed them."

I glanced worriedly toward Severus,but he shook his head nearly imperceptibly at me – he must have cursed them all from behind, or else he was telling me silently not to give us away, which I could have had it not been for Voldemort seeming to be lost in thought as he watched the peacocks.

"You are dismissed."

We quickly left the room, not staying to ask him why he was so moody – it wouldn't be a good idea to do so.

I followed Severus as he walked swiftly through the storm and rain to the front gate, set his left hand upon it, and –

It didn't open.

He narrowed his eyes and tried again.

It still didn't open.

Then, I understood what was going on.

"It's because Regulus doesn't have the Dark Mark," I whispered urgently. I stomped a foot angrily and childishly. "Damn it! They're too smart! How are we supposed to get it open now?"

"We could remove the curses," Severus said quietly.

"Well I don't know how to do that! Do you?" He shook his head. "Exactly."

"Who does? _Someone _has got to know how to – we both know that Voldemort didn't do it. He has his henchmen do _everything_ for him," Severus said. I furrowed my eyebrows in thought, before I remembered –

"Selwyn!" I exclaimed suddenly. "He knows! Unless they have put new curses on it within the past six or so months, which I doubt they have."

"And exactly _how _are we supposed to find Selwyn?" Severus said impatiently. I shrugged.

"I don't know! You didn't curse him, right?" He shook his head.

"He would be missed easier than the ones that I cursed."

"Damn. That would make it easier to find him. Did you _see _him at all?"

"No."

"Fuck. Er, who else do you think – ?" I started to ask, but I was cut off.

"Snape! Sawyer! What do you think you're doing?"

I spun on my heels to see Lucius striding toward us. I glanced toward Severus, who glanced toward me at the same time. We nodded at each other nearly imperceptibly and Lucius came up next to us. He turned toward Severus.

I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't bring myself to at first. I had never used the Imperious curse before, but I knew I had to do it this time whether I wanted to or not.

"_Imperio!_" I whispered so only Regulus could hear me.

A sense of tingling warmth flowed from my brain down my spine and down the arm connecting to my wand – I didn't think it was an enjoyable sensation and I didn't understand why Bellatrix and Voldemort and others actually _liked _to use this curse.

It seemed Lucius tried to fight it off, but as I pushed more magic into it, he eventually gave in and started to wave his wand in odd movements.

Finally, after a couple minutes of strange wand-moving, the lock on the gate burst open, and then the gate itself opened as well. I led Severus and Regulus out, and once all three of us were out, I had Lucius put the curses back on and then go back to the manor.

The three of us Apparated to Hogsmeade, where Severus removed the enchantments to Hogwarts and allowed us to enter. Once inside, Regulus put his hood down for the first time since he put it on.

No words were exchanged as we trekked up the long walk to the school through the pouring rain and storm and into the building, where we dried ourselves off.

"We should probably tell Dumbledore that you're back," I said, breaking the silence, upon entering the school.

"I have a class in fifteen minutes," Severus said. "I'll see you guys later." Regulus and I watched him as he disappeared down the stairs toward the dungeons.

Once he was gone, an awkward silence enveloped us.

"Er, we should – er – go to Dumbledore's office," I said quietly. When Regulus didn't respond, I turned toward the stairs, but before I could walk even one step, a gentle hand grabbed my wrist and Regulus pulled me into the nearest empty classroom, locking the door behind him.

"Nicole," he said quietly, taking my hands in his and looking into my eyes. "You shouldn't have."

"Shouldn't have what? Come and save you? Because would you rather be back there than here?" I asked him. He sighed and closed his eyes briefly.

"You shouldn't have put your life in danger to save mine. I'm not worth it – " I cut him off by putting a finger to his lips.

"You're worth it to me." He opened his mouth to say something, despite my finger still resting on his lips, but I kept talking before he could. "You would have done the same for me, wouldn't you?" He closed his mouth instantly, looking down, and nodded slowly as I removed my finger from his lips.

Nothing was said for a moment until suddenly we both leaned toward each other and our lips met.

The kiss was short, but sweet. We both pulled away at the same time, but kept our foreheads against each other, my arms around his neck and his around my waist.

"Come on," I said quietly after a moment. "We should tell Dumbledore and then go home." But I still didn't move.

"Tell Dumbledore what?" Regulus whispered. "That you're a noble git? 'Cause I'm sure he already knows that." I smiled and finally grabbed his wrist and pulled him out into the corridors and to Dumbledore's office.

"Cockroach cluster!" I shouted at the stone gargoyle, hoping he hadn't changed his password. Luckily, he hadn't, and the gargoyle jumped aside allowed Regulus and I jumped onto the moving staircase. For once, at the top, I knocked and heard a muffled voice say,

"Enter."

I entered before Regulus, and when Dumbledore saw Regulus, he didn't seem shocked – in fact, he looked like he was expecting it.

"Hello Regulus. Nice to see you again." Regulus merely nodded at him as he followed me to the fireplace and then back home.

Sirius wasn't home, at least we didn't see him, and we went upstairs to my room. We sat on the bed silently, his arms around my waist and my head resting on his shoulders.

Finally, it stopped raining and the sun came out, shinning through the large window in my room facing the street in the front of the house. The light reflected off of something on my desk right into my eye, and I cast a silent and wandless spell to summon whatever it was to me.

I caught it in my hand swiftly and saw that it was a chain with a silver, heart perimeter charm on it.

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened in shock.

It wasn't the first time I had seen this necklace. Fred had given it to me for my fourteenth birthday and then I had lost it in 1996 someplace in Diagon Alley.

Telling myself that it was probably a different one that just looked very, _very_ similar, I opened the locket part and found –

The picture of my parents on their wedding day. The same picture that had been in the one I had had in 1996.

I didn't understand. How the hell had a _necklace _found it's way from 1996 to 19890? It was bloody impossible! I was baffled, and when I asked Regulus, he was just as shocked as me.

"That's, like, impossible!" he exclaimed.

"I know! I don't understand," I said.

I wondered silently to myself after putting the necklace back on if I would _ever _find out how it had gotten here.

Silently, I drifted off to sleep...

* * *

"_Are you sure?" a high, cold voice asked. _

"_I am very sure, my lord," another cold voice replied. "It was Sawyer and Snape. I saw them with my own two eyes. With somebody in hooded robes. Sawyer put the Imperious on me and had me take the protective curses off and then reapply them."_

_Voldemort was sitting in the same chair in the same drawing room as always, with Lucius Malfoy standing in front of him with his head held high proudly, as if he had just done something very pleasing. _

_Voldemort sighed, looking at his hands – he was wringing his wand between them like he always did when he was deep in thought. _

"_You're _absolutely _sure?" _

_Lucius nodded._

"_Why would I lie about this?" _

_Voldemort didn't reply for a moment._

_After a minute of silence, he nodded and said,_

"_Yes...yes, you aren't lying. I can tell. Lord Voldemort can always tell." He paused. "They are fools; putting the Imperious on you _after _you had already seen them. If they were smart, they would have wiped your memory of the event." He paused again. "And I'm guessing – no, I _know_ – that they were the ones who helped Black escape. He was obviously the hooded one there." _

_He glanced up at Lucius._

"_You will be rewarded, Lucius. And they – they will be punished."_

**A/N: It seems like I'm addicted to cliff-hangers!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	28. Traitors

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Hannahzzz and ixamxeverywhere for the reviews!**

Chapter 27

I woke with a start. Sweat was rolling down my face and I wiped it off with the back of my hand quickly. My left forearm was tingling, but I knew better than to go to him – if what I had just dreamt had actually happened, Severus and I were screwed.

I climbed from the bed, trying not to wake Regulus, but my attempt was futile.

"Nicole?" he asked groggily. "Where ya going?"

"Just to the bathroom," I answered quickly, not wanting to worry him. He put his head back onto his pillow and fell back asleep instantly.

Instead of going to the bathroom, I headed downstairs to the drawing room – it was the middle of the night so I figured that Sirius wouldn't be down there. But when I heard muffled voices, I stopped and sat down on the stairs.

I quickly cast a patronus to send to Severus and said,

"I had a dream. We should have wiped Lucius' memory, for they now know we are traitors."

The silver wolf wisped around the corner and disappeared. I waited on the stairs for Severus to reply, trying to make out whose voices I was hearing in the drawing room. There were four and there were male, one was female – that's the most I could tell. I figured they were Sirius, Remus, James, and Lily, even though James and Lily weren't supposed to leave their house.

After a moment, Severus' silver doe floated onto the staircase and his voice said,

"Really? I had the same dream. You should get Regulus and Sirius and take them someplace safer, someplace with protective charms because your house has none and they will try to get you soon. Do it quickly. Floo Dumbledore or something." I didn't reply to this and instead went upstairs to wake Regulus.

"Regulus," I said, shaking him. He groaned.

"Hmm?"

"We have to leave here, the Death Eaters know – !"

Every window in the house smashed at the same time – at least it sounded like it. There were yells and a scream from downstairs. Glass showered down on Regulus and I.

I grabbed Regulus' wrist and yanked him from the room as curses started to fly in the open window. We stumbled down the stairs and into the drawing room, where Remus, James, Sirius, and Lily were standing in a circle with their wands out. Remus almost cursed us when we entered the room, but when he saw it was just us he sighed in relief.

"What's going on?" Regulus asked as he ducked a green light that had been shot through the window.

"We had hoped you would know!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I do," I said, throwing a protective spell over the window so most spells – all of them except Unforgivables – would just rebound at the Death Eaters. "They're Death Eaters."

"No duh!" Regulus said. "But why are they here?"

"They're here for me! They know Severus and I are traitors!"

"How? You've kept it from them this long, what happened?"

"Malfoy saw us before we put the Imperious on him. We should have wiped his memory, but we were all too preoccupied with getting out of there alive at the time to think about it."

Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily were looking from one of us to the other with confused looks on their faces, but we didn't stop to explain as we both sent stunning spells through the window – I saw a figure fall after being hit with one of them.

"Come on! Let's floo to Dumbledore's!" Regulus yelled, grabbing the flowerpot and throwing some floo powder into the fire, which turned green. He grabbed Lily's wrist – not only because she was closest to him but also because she would be the least help in a fight – and pulled her into the fire.

"You guys better follow me or I'll kill you all one by one!" she said before saying clearly "Dumbledore's office!"

It didn't work.

"Shit!" Regulus said, pulling her out of the fire just before it became regular fire again.

"What?" Lily asked, confused. "Why didn't it work?"

"Because," I explained quickly. "They infiltrated the ministry somehow and blocked the floo network from here! Do you think we could Apparate?" Regulus shook his head.

"I doubt it," he said. "If they blocked the floo, wouldn't they have blocked the Apparation as well?" I groaned.

"Then what are we supposed to do? They've got to have _at least _twenty people out there and there are only six of us!" I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated.

"What about a portkey?" Remus asked. I shook my head.

"They would have blocked that, too. I know how these people work. We're probably stuck here."

"What if we pretend that we aren't here?" I shook my head again.

"They have spells that can tell where people are." I sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to fight."

"But we don't stand a chance!" Regulus said.

"What other choice do we have?"

Regulus seemed about ready to answer, but was cut off by some curses flying through my protective barrier. We all ducked just in time.

The front door was blasted open and four masked Death Eaters entered and then came into the drawing room. Regulus and I were the first to jump up and start throwing jinxes at them, followed immediately by James, Sirius, and Remus. Lily, who was much slower because of her now large belly, was nearly hit by several curses aimed at James.

I blocked a few Cruciatus curses that would have hit Lily otherwise and managed to knock down one Death Eater and saw the other four crumble as well.

I ran to the window, where spells were now coming in rapidly. I saw five more masked Death Eaters standing outside and saw several more headed toward the front door.

"Remus, James, Sirius, man the front door! Regulus, Lily, help me get these five from the window!" Remus, James, and Sirius ran off to the front door while Regulus and Lily joined me at the window. I put up the same protective charm as earlier, but, as they were using Unforgivable Curses and the charm didn't block them, they came straight through.

I sent several stunners, but missed all of my intended targets. I saw one of them crumble under a red spell sent from Lily.

I recognized one of the Death Eaters outside by his next move – he made a wild slashing movement – Dolohov.

There was no way I could block this spell, the magic involved was too Dark to block, and it was headed straight for an unsuspecting Regulus. I could only think of one way to keep it from hitting him.

"_Avada kedavra!_"

I sent the Killing Curse straight to a place where it would directly hit the purple light coming toward Regulus, who stopped upon seeing my wand nearly at him and heard my words. Lily's eyes widened in shock before she saw the two curses collide and both go out with a _pop!_and realized what I had intended.

I heard a yell from somewhere behind us and turned on my heels to see two Death Eaters pushing past a falling Remus – it looked like he had been hit with a strong form of the Impedimenta jinx, for he didn't stir when he hit the ground – toward us – or, more accurately, toward _me_. They were unmasked, so I knew exactly who they were as I turned toward them and sent several spells at them, trying to stop them from coming any closer to us, but they continued to advance as they blocked the spells easily and sent stunning spells toward me – I was shocked they hadn't tried to _kill _me before I realized that Voldemort would probably want me alive.

"Hello Bellatrix, Lucius," I said as though I was greeting old friends. "I see Lord Voldemort has finally realized that his loyalties lied in the wrong places. About time. He is quite naive, don't you agree?" Bellatrix's nostrils flared as she sent the Cruciatus Curse toward me – I blocked it easily and sent a stunner, which she blocked just as easily.

"I always knew there was something wrong with you," she hissed.

"But I bet you never imagined Severus would be in on it as well, did you?" I asked pleasantly. My tone infuriated her, and she sent a nasty looking Dark Curse at me. I hit it with a Killing Curse and the spot they had hit _popped _and then a fire appeared and dropped to the ground, which caught fire as well. My eyes widened as the fire advanced toward Remus' unmoving form. Any minute now, he would be engulfed by it.

"Sirius! James!" I yelled, blocking more curses sent my way. I heard a _bang!_from where they were, but neither of them showed. Bellatrix laughed viciously.

"There goes the werewolf. It's just too bad it wasn't Sirius – the blood-traitor deserves it, as does the half-breed!" Infuriated, I yelled,

"_Expulso!" _Though Bellatrix and Lucius moved out of the way, the spell hit the couch behind them and sent them both flying into the wall.

I saw that the flames were now inches from Remus.

"_Aguamenti!_" I yelled, pointing my wand directly at the flames by Remus' face. The jet of water hit them and put them out, and I quickly put the whole fire out before turning back to Bellatrix and Lucius and realizing that I should have paid more attention to them, for a Cruciatus sent at me was too close for me to block.

It hit me straight in the chest, knocking me backward. I felt the familiar sensation of the Cruciatus Curse pulsing through me. It felt like white-hot blades were being pressed on me and were somehow in my veins and heart. White dots blurred my vision, and the only thing I could hear were my screams.

I focused with all of my might on my wandless magic, but I was weakened by the curse, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to control my wandless magic while I was weakened.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and I lay panting on the ground before jumping to my feet unsteadily.

Bellatrix had been knocked down by four stunners hitting her at the same time, for James, Lily, Sirius, and Regulus all had their wands pointed at her now still body. To my surprise, James looked furious of them all as he turned his wand to Lucius, who actually looked frightened as four more wands – Lily's, Sirius', Regulus' and mine – all pointed at him. More curses flew in through the window, but they hit the wall and vanished as we all sent various spells at Lucius, who ended up knocked out on the ground beside Bellatrix.

Regulus and Lily turned back to the window – there was no time to waste making sure I was okay, for there were still several Death Eaters. Sirius turned back to the door to find five more Death Eaters there, but James kept his eyes on me for a minute before turning back to help Sirius.

There were more Death Eaters inside the house than outside the window, so I went to help Sirius and James with the five – now four – masked Death Eaters. I stunned one unsuspecting Death Eater and, while Sirius and James each started a one-on-one duel, I did as well.

Just after I sent a stunning spell, a new voice entered the fray. It sounded somewhat distant, but loud at the same time.

"Your attempts to fight my Death Eaters are futile, Sawyer." I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from screaming – not from fear, but anger. How could I not have known he would join the fray? "You of all people should know that. Give yourself up, and my Death Eaters will retreat. You may as well save your energy, for, either way, you will be captured." I was reminded immensely of the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998 when Voldemort was addressing Harry.

Then, Voldemort suddenly appeared in the front of the house – I was near enough to the door to see outside of it. He was walking swiftly closer to the front door.

I laughed humorlessly.

"Have you not realized by now, _Tom_," I jeered, "that I'm not afraid of you? You should have realized this from the first time you met me. I didn't even flinch _once _while I was in your presence." He nostrils flared so much I could see it from at least 20 feet away.

"You _dare _call me by that filthy Muggle name?" he said. A jet of green light shot out of his now outstretched wand toward me, which I blocked by striking it with the same curse mid-flight.

"Course. I've already made it clear that I'm not afraid of you. I've been lying to you straight under your nose for _months _and you haven't noticed. It's clear you don't scare me."

"What lies have you told, Sawyer?" he asked maliciously. He was now at the door, and, as it seemed nearly all of the Death Eaters besides the five or so that Sirius, James, Lily, and Regulus had taken on had been beaten, we both had our wands pointed at each other's chest.

"Lots," I said quietly. "Like how I didn't know about the prophecies or what the one about me meant. I knew it all. I know more than you think I do, Tom. Like about your Horcruxes." His eyes widened – he must have_ just_ realized that he had given me two pieces of his soul. "I have them. _All _of them. All five of them. They're hidden away someplace you'll never find them. They're not here," I added as I saw him looking up the stairs apprehensively. "They're in a safe place. I will find a way to get rid of them all soon, and then all I have to do is kill _you_, which is something I've been wanting to do my whole life."

"I had 'disappeared,' as the old-man – " Dumbledore " – so kindly puts it, when you were born. Only those who were at Hogwarts with me knew who I was. You wouldn't have known me." I smiled slightly.

"I wasn't born when you think I was. Remember the prophecy? '_Coming from a time and place none know,_'" I quoted. When he merely stared at me, I stared blankly back at him.

Then, very suddenly, a green jet of light shot from his wand straight at me. I dodged it and hoped that nobody was behind me – I glanced behind me for a brief second to see the wall by Remus' head on fire and knew that the curse had hit the wall – luckily, he stayed on the wall this time and didn't advance on Remus – at least, a voice in the back of my head added, not _yet_.

I spun back around to see two more jets of green light aimed at me. I countered them by sending two killing curses at them as well, and the fires that erupted formed a huge fire between Voldemort and myself within seconds.

"You and Snape will pay for this, Sawyer," Voldemort said somewhat quietly before he turned and walked out of the house and back to the street and disappeared with a _pop!_

I spun around and saw only three more Death Eaters left, who seemed very frightened at the loss of their master. While they were gaping after Voldemort, they were easily taken down by James, Sirius, and Regulus.

There was silence for the first time in what felt like hours until we all suddenly rushed toward Remus to make sure he was okay.

I was the first by his side. I dropped to my knees beside him and saw that though he was out cold, his chest was still moving up and down with each deep, slow breath he took.

There were five sighs of relief, and I pointed my wand at him and said, "_Ennervate_." Remus' eyes opened and his sat up sharply.

"Thank Merlin you're alright!" Lily said, dropping to her knees and pulling him into a tight hug despite her large stomach. After a moment, during which Regulus and I had put out the fires, they broke apart and stood up slowly.

"What do we do now?" Sirius asked.

"We _leave_," I answered. "They know where we are now. We'll have to stay at Hogwarts or something, some place safer than here."

There were several _pops!_and as we looked around, we saw each Death Eater disappear one by one, each one with a _pop!_

"They'll be back before we know it. Get whatever you need to take with you and _hurry_."

Sirius, Regulus and I trekked upstairs, each to our separate rooms at the top. I picked up only three things; the necklace, which I had taken off while I slept, and the two pictures I had arrived with, all of which I shoved into my pockets with my wand.

Afterward, I walked straight to Regulus' room and opened the door slowly. He was sitting on his bed staring out of his smashed window. I sat down slowly next to him and put my hand into his. After a moment, I asked,

"What was the 'Order business' you went on the other day before you were captured?" He slowly looked down at me and paused for a minute before answering.

"Voldemort sent several Death Eaters to try to infiltrate the ministry. Dumbledore found out and had Kingsley, Frank, and I there to keep them from doing so. We had only expected five to show up, but ten did..." He trailed off and I squeezed his hand gently.

"Will you tell me next time? Please?"

"I didn't want to worry you," he replied simply, looking back out the window.

Sirius' head poked around the doorway.

"You guys coming? We're going to go outside and Apparate to Hogsmeade and contact Dumbledore so we can talk to him." I nodded and stood up, followed by Regulus.

We followed the four out to the deserted street and took a final look back at the now ruined house. The windows were all smashed, the door was broken in, and several walls were black and looked ready to collapse from the fires.

As one, we all turned and Apparated to Hogsmeade.

**A/N: It's actually not a cliff-hanger this time!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	29. The TruthAgain

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Hannahzzz and ixamxeverywhere for the reviews!  
**

Chapter 28

"How should we get Dumbledore?"

"We could send him a letter?" Lily suggested. "The post office is right there."

"No," I said. "I've got it." I cast a patronus and sent it off to Dumbledore with a short message asking him to let us in. A few seconds later, a silver phoenix came back asking me who "us" was.

"Was that a message sent through a patronus?" Remus asked. I nodded as I sent another message explaining what had happened in few words ("Voldemort found out – Death Eaters attacked").

"Do you not know how to do that?" I asked. He shook his head. "You should all learn. It's quite a handy spell that Dumbledore invented."

A few minutes later we saw a lantern bobbing through the darkness toward us. Soon enough, Dumbledore showed up and let us into the safety of the grounds. We followed him up to the school and into the Entrance Hall, where Severus happened to be on his way down to the dungeons.

He stopped when he saw our disheveled appearances; the rip in James' robe, the cut in Sirius' knee, Lily limping, the burn on Remus' arm where the fire had gotten to him before I could, the blood oozing from a cut in Regulus shoulder, the deep gashes on my cheek and upper lip.

Severus ran up to us quickly.

"What the hell happened?" he asked roughly. "I _told _you to get out of there before – !"

"I tried to!" I relied coolly. "It's kinda hard to get out of the house when it's surrounded by what seems like _every _Death Eater and they've blocked floo _and_ Apparation."

"They came to your house that fast?" Severus asked, paling. I nodded.

"Oh, and Dumbledore," I said, turning to Dumbledore. "I _may _have let it slip to Voldemort that we had all of his Horcruxes hidden someplace safe." He sighed and looked away – obviously, I wasn't supposed to tell Voldemort this. "What? All we need to do is find a way to get rid of them and then we can kill him and it will all be over."

"Wait," Severus said as we stepped onto the moving staircase to Dumbledore's office, "Voldemort himself showed up?"

"Did I forget to mention that?" I said jokingly. "Well, Voldemort himself showed up."

"How did you get him to leave?" Severus asked in awe. I shrugged.

"I honestly don't know," I said frankly. "I just know that when he failed to hit me several times, he up and left. Not before starting several fires, smashing every window, and destroying the entire house though."

"_Destroying _is an understatement," Regulus pointed out.

We entered Dumbledore's office, conjured up enough chairs for everybody, and slumped into them, realizing for the first time just how tired we were after the argument.

"What do we do now?" Sirius asked after a moment of silence. Dumbledore sighed again, looking very stressed as he wrung his hands together.

"We need you, Nicole, and Regulus to find a safe place to stay. There's here and Godric's Hallow with James and Lily. But right now, we need to discuss something else." Annoyed, bored, and figuring that whatever we were about to "discuss" I already knew, I put my feet up on Regulus' lap. He rolled his eyes and pushed them down, and they landed on the ground with a loud _thump!_

All eyes tore from Dumbledore to me.

"Sorry," I muttered, looking down. "But I'm the youngest here, I have the right to be immature – I'm only fifteen."

"Shouldn't you be eighteen by now?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Shit, why did I have to go say that?

"That's actually what we need to talk about," Dumbledore said. My eyes widened, and I looked over at him sharply.

"W – What?" I asked, stunned – it wasn't that I didn't think that it was about time to tell them, it was just that I was shocked that he had brought it up so suddenly. "Right now?" Dumbledore nodded his head slowly.

"Right now," he said. He paused for a moment before saying, "Would you like to do it? Or would you like me to?" I looked at my hands in my lap, about ready to ask him to do it, but then I realized that I should be the one.

Finally, I said,

"Er, I – I'll do it." I took a deep breath, preparing myself, but I still didn't know how to say this. I decided it was best to do the "band-aid" method – "just rip" because it causes less pain – but since I thought pulling the band-aid slowly hurt less, I decided to just start slow – like how I was from 1997, it seemed the best place to start.

"I'm from 1997. I'm here to change the future because, I know it could be worse, but _everyone _in this room is – is _dead_." I saw Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus all pale and look toward Remus, then Dumbledore, then Severus, and then back to me with wide eyes. I was confused immediately. Why were they only shocked about the deaths of Remus, Dumbledore, Severus, and me?

"_All _of us?" Lily asked finally, her voice strained. I looked down at my hands, again, and nodded slowly. Maybe I _should _have had Dumbledore do it...although he probably would have started with "James, Lily...Nicole is your daughter" and I had to work up the nerve to get there.

"Er, yeah, _all _of us."

"Even you?" James asked quietly. I was shocked by what I heard in his voice – was that _pain? _There was no way that _James _was actually _upset _about _my _death. It was probably something else – something I was mistaking as pain. Yep, that had to be it.

I moistened my cracked lips with the tip of my tongue and nodded.

"Yeah, even me. That's how I was sent back here – Voldemort himself did it. Nobody understands exactly what happened, though, or howI got sent back here. He sent the Killing Curse at me, and somehow I ended up here."

Nobody said anything, and I continued to stare at my hands. I knew what was coming. I had to do it. _Rip the band-aid, _I thought, _rip the band-aid._

Instead of saying "James, Lily, I'm your daughter" which was very tactless, keeping my eyes downcast, I stuck with,

"My realname is Nicole Lily Potter."

There was silence – just as I had expected.

Then, suddenly, I heard footsteps. There were only a few before the feet showed up in my reign of vision – I was still looking down. The feet stopped directly in front of me and then, after a pause, the person they belonged to knelt down. I still couldn't tell who it was, though, and didn't risk looking up to see.

A hand reached out and cupped my chin, forcing it upward, and I was shocked to see that it was _James _who was in front of me.

Our eyes met, and he dropped his hand and took mine in his.

"Nicole," he said softly. "Nicole, I'm sorry. I'm _so _sorry." He didn't need to explain what he was sorry for – I already knew. "And I'll understand if you won't forgive me – "

"I forgive you," I interrupted quietly. He looked stunned.

"W-What? You do?" I nodded.

"In my time, there was somebody who was in a similar position as me – he was really on the Order's side and was a spy for Dumbledore as a Death Eater and Dumbledore 'had his reasons' for trusting him, which he wouldn't tell us. Only difference is that he _isn't _from the future." I paused, turning to Snape. "Right, Severus?" I asked jokingly. He smiled and nodded.

"That's right."

"Well, he ended up being on the Light side, and we wouldn't know this if he hadn't died trying to protect my brother." To my surprise, James didn't even act surprised that I had a brother – then I realized it was obvious, because Lily was carrying a boy.

"Harry, right?" he asked. "That's your brother's name?" Confused – how did he know that? Last I had heard they had said they were now not too sure about Harry – I nodded.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "But how did you know that?" James licked his lips, looked at Dumbledore for a second, and then explained,

"When we were in Snape's office making the potion for Lily yesterday – man, that was only _yesterday?_ – well, anyway, there was a unclosed vial of time sand sitting on the shelves, and it got dumped into the potion – short version of the story, we got sent 16 and half years into the future."

Unable to stop myself, I started to giggle, and then the giggles turned into laughing uncontrollably – I don't know why, it really wasn't _that _funny.. James looked more confused than I had ever seen him – at least, until Severus yelled accusingly at me,

"I _told _you to put the lids on everything when you were done!" Finally, I managed to calm myself down enough to retort,

"Hey, we were called to a battle! I got distracted! _You _should have realized that it didn't have a lid on it later after the battle. You _always _noticed things like that back in my time!"

"I'm confused," Sirius said. I looked over at him to find him looking like he was deep in thought. "Were _you_ the one who put the vial of the sand on the shelves?" I nodded.

"I took half of it, just in case, y'know? And, well, after that it was left – unclosed – on the shelf." I paused. "What time did you go back to?" I asked suddenly. "Like, what month and year?"

"September of 1996," Remus answered.

I knew that I paled at that – I would have to tell them about the last year and a half that I had spent in my time, and that wasn't something that I wanted to do.

"What?" Lily asked, kneeling down beside James. "What happened in the last year that you spent in that time?" I sighed, looking at my hands.

"Well, Dumbledore was killed – "

"What?" Sirius asked, his eyes widening. "How?"

"Because of my own stupidity, Sirius," Dumbledore answered. "I touched a very Dark artifact. Severus managed to save me, but only for about a year, and then we planned to have him 'murder' me after that year so that an innocent 16 year old wouldn't have to." Sirius seemed shocked – I had been after his death too – of all ways for Dumbledore to die, he died because of that.

"Well, after that, Mad-Eye took over the Order, but was killed as well during a battle when we were moving Harry to the Burrow." I sighed – time to tell them of the last couple days of my _life _in that time. "You know Bill Weasley, right?" When I saw them all nod, I continued. "Well, he got married in August of that year – a week or so after Mad-Eye's death.

"But during the reception, the ministry was infiltrated and Death Eaters came to the reception looking for Harry or me."

"You?" James asked, his eyes wide. "Why did they want you?"

"Because they could get to Harry if they had me," I answered quietly, still looking down. "And I was a much easier target – I was only fifteen while he was seventeen." I sighed.

"They showed up at the wedding. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had already gone. I never saw it coming, and I couldn't Apparate because I was underage."

"They got you," Lily stated, paling – it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

I nodded slowly, and James' grip on my hand tightened.

"How long – how long did they let you live?" he asked quietly. I swallowed and suddenly noticed that Severus, Regulus, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus had left the room to give us some privacy.

"Nine days." James eyes widened, and I noticed that I had never seen him look so upset before.

He pulled me down beside him, so I was now kneeling on the ground as well, and pulled me against him, hugging me tightly.

It didn't need to be said what happened in those nine days – Lily and James understood without me having to tell them that not only did I not want to talk about it, but it was obvious what had happened.

"That's why you aren't afraid of Voldemort, isn't it?" Lily asked – she hadn't joined the hug because her protruding stomach was in the way.

I nodded.

"That's exactly why."

"What happened after you were – were killed?" James asked, looking me in the eyes once again. I swallowed again.

"I sort of went into the after-life – or maybe it was purgatory, like the Catholics believe, I don't know – but everyone that had died was there – Dumbledore, you guys, Sirius, Mad-Eye, and Regulus.

"I got to stay and watch what happened until that May, when Harry finally defeated Voldemort. Every time somebody that was _important_ died, they would join us – Peter, Dobby the house-elf, Crabbe, Fred, Collin Creevey, Remus, Tonks, Severus, Bellatrix – "

"Do you know who all of these people are?" James asked Lily – I still couldn't get used to calling them "Dad" and "Mom" – jokingly. Lily shook her head.

"No idea. I know Remus, Peter, Fred, Severus, Bellatrix – "

"Dobby is a house-elf that saved Harry, Ron, Hermione, and some other people's lives – long story – and Bellatrix killed him by hitting him with a knife aimed at Harry. Crabbe was Malfoy's little _side-kick_ back in school, he started a Fiend-Fyre in the Room of Requirement that ended up killing him – smooth, right? Collin Creevey was a year older than me, he was Harry's number one fan, he was under age but came back into Hogwarts grounds to fight in the final battle – oh, I forgot to say that the final battle was fought at Hogwarts. And Tonks is Sirius' cousin – she should be about seven right now – "

"You mean Dora?" James asked. "She died?" I nodded slowly, but smiled.

"You ready for this?"

"For what?" Lily asked, confused.

"She was married – to Remus – and they had a kid." James and Lily's mouths dropped. I couldn't help but laugh at the looks on their faces.

"You're kidding!" Lily said. I shook my head.

"Nope. I just wish I could've met little Teddy in real life – he was born sometime after I died. In April, I think."

"We can't _ever _let Remus live this one down!" James said.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to tell Remus," Lily said. "It might pressure him into marrying – Tonks, did you call her? – and having this kid at the right time." James groaned.

"Party-pooper."

"Well I sorta agree with Lily – Mom," I said. "Sorry Dad, but that _would _pressure Remus into marrying Tonks and having Teddy. I'd love to meet Teddy and for Remus and Tonks to get married, but I don't want him to do it because of anything other than love." James sighed.

"I guess you're right, but it takes the fun out of it. Can we just _tease _him about knowing something about his future that he doesn't?" I shrugged.

"I don't see why that would hurt."

It was Lily's turn to groan.

"You're _so _immature!" she said to James, who shrugged, indifferent.

"You should let them back in," he said to me, nodding his head toward the door as we all got back into our seats, only this time with James and Lily on either side of me.

Instead of getting up, I waved my wand and the door opened, revealing the five standing outside the door, looking bored.

"Hey Remus!" James called, causing an unsuspecting Remus to jump slightly at being addressed so suddenly. "Guess what?"

"Er – what?" he asked, confused, as he led the way into the room.

"I know something you don't know!" Remus groaned.

"Are we going to have to go through this _again_?"

"Oh, but what he knows this time is _good_!" I pointed out.

"Tell me tell me!" Sirius exclaimed. James laughed at how excited he sounded and said,

"Sorry, can't Sirius!" Sirius slumped, pouting, into the chair beside James. "What do we do now, Dumbledore? We have all of the Horcruxes, no spies, and no way to kill the Horcruxes?"

Then, suddenly, there was a booming, cold voice that echoed throughout the school and grounds.

"Peek-a-boo, Hogwarts students and teachers!" I heard several muffled, distant screams from someplace in the castle, and I groaned – I could never go a day without Voldemort in my life, could I?

"Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort is speaking to you, and you alone. Take my – my _prized possessions _– " his Horcruxes, obviously " – out to the Forbidden Forest – you will find some Death Eaters and myself. Failure to do so in the next hour, and we will attack and kill anybody and everybody in our way until we find them."

"Well," I said when I was sure his little speech was over, "I guess that answered your question, Dad."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	30. Battle of Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Sorry that it's shorter than usual – it was either make it slightly shorter or post tomorrow and I wanted to post today! There will _probably_ be two more chapters, but it might only end up one. I'm glad that I actually finished it, but I'm sad that it's ending.**

**Check out my new story: I Will Always Love You! It's a Remus/Sirius SLASH story but doesn't have anything worse than PG13.**

**Thanks Hannahzzz for the review!**

Chapter 29

"_Well," I said when I was sure his little speech was over, "I guess that answered your question, Dad."_

Of course, of all things for James to think about in that moment, it was that I had just called him _Dad_. His mouth dropped and he stared at me, shocked.

"Y – Y – You!" I rose my eyebrows and turned to Sirius and Remus.

"Good news – he's finally learned to form one word!" They rolled their eyes, but were obviously amused at James' facial expression – as were Lily, Regulus, Severus, and Dumbledore.

"You – You called me _Dad_!"

"Well, you _are _my Dad. Plus, I called you Dad earlier too and you didn't react this way," I pointed out. He still seemed shocked, though.

"You – You don't hate me?" His eyebrows were furrowed, as if deep in thought. I opened my mouth to respond, but Dumbledore cleared his throat, and I turned to him, having nearly forgotten that Voldemort was on the Hogwarts grounds.

"We have other issues at hand here, James, Nicole," he said calmly. "Nicole, we need to find a way to get rid of the Horcruxes _and fast_." I paused, bitting my lower lip, my eyebrows furrowed, but I could hardly come up with anything.

"Well, I guess I could try to get into the Chamber and kill the basilisk – "

"No, no, _no!_" James said, waving his hands to emphasis what he meant. "No _way _am I letting you go kill the basilisk in the Chamber – _especially _not alone." I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

"Okay, Dumbledore, I'll figure this out. But right now you need to organize the teachers and get the students to someplace safe. If they want to stay and fight, let them – _only _if they are of age, though. Someone needs to call the Order and get everybody here that they can, somehow, and meet in the Great Hall to help with the students – "

"I'll do it," Remus volunteered. "I have an idea of how to."

"I'll help," Lily said, standing up.

"The rest of us should help get the students to safety," I said. Lily and Remus departed down the staircase, and Dumbledore put the _Sonorus _charm on himself and said, his voice echoing throughout the school,

"Students – I must ask you all to _stay in your Houses! _It will only be dangerous for yourself to leave. _All _teachers and staff, if you would, meet me in the Great Hall."

We all departed quickly and headed for the Great Hall, where McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Hagrid, Madam Pomfrey, Filch, and several other teachers and staff members were gathered. They were talking amongst themselves, apprehensive looks on their faces.

"Albus!" Sprout called when she noticed us. "Albus, just give him what he wants – the students will get hurt – !"

"If we want to overcome Voldemort, we can't give it to him," Dumbledore answered calmly. "Head of houses – get the students – _every _student – and bring them _directly to the Great Hall_. You four – " he pointed to Regulus, Sirius, James, and myself " – go with Minerva. Poppy, Irma..."

I pushed Dumbledore out of my mind as I followed McGonagall up the stone stairs toward the seventh floor.

"What is going on?" McGonagall asked me halfway up. "Never, in my life – "

"Long story," I answered calmly. "Let's just say he knows we have all of his Horcruxes and that they are here."

"What? H – How?"

"No time to explain right now," I said quickly, coming up beside the portrait of a worried looking Fat Lady, who opened immediately upon seeing McGonagall without even asking for the password.

Students were milling about the Common Room, looking for friends, siblings, cousins – some were crying, others reassuring first-years who looked extremely frightened. They all crowded around the portrait hole and were silent when they saw us enter.

"Prefects, I need you to help these four – " she motioned toward Regulus, Sirius, James, and I " – lead the students to the Great Hall, where we will be given further instruction. The rest of you – follow me."

She led the way out of the Great Hall, students filing out behind her. A few remained behind, trying to get our attention, hoping that maybe we would let something slip about what exactly was happening.

"Nope – can't tell you – sorry," we would say whenever somebody would ask.

"It's confidential," Sirius said once. "We can't tell you. Sorry."

I wasn't the only one who was shocked that he wouldn't make up something crazy – James and Regulus each shared a quick glance of shock with me before we turned away, leading some first-years after a Prefect and stifling our giggles.

By the time we made it to the Great Hall, the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin tables were already filled up with curious and confused students. Teachers, who were just as confused, milled about them. Lily, Remus, Severus, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Frank, Alice, Molly, Arthur, Gideon, Fabian, and Hagrid were all in deep discussion with Dumbledore up by the staff table. McGonagall, Regulus, Sirius, James and I joined them quickly, ignoring the questions that students were yelling at us.

"James!"

"Sirius!"

"Potter!"

Three different people – Lily, Remus, and Mad-Eye – but when it all came together, I heard, "James Sirius Potter," and I realized that there _was _a way to get rid of the Horcruxes without killing the Basilisk.

Regulus must have realized the sudden look of understanding on my face, and he asked,

"What?"

I ignored him and turned to Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore!" I said quickly. Everybody who heard me turned toward me. "I know a way to get rid of the Ho – of them! I can't exactly explain how, but it will work, I promise!" When he didn't respond, I turned to leave, but he decided _then _to respond.

"Nicole, we need a way to get the students someplace safe." I paused, doing some quick figuring, and then replied,

"On the third floor, there is a statue of a one-eyed witch – tap it and say '_Dissendium._' There's a secret passageway that leads you to – "

"Honeydukes cellar," James finished for me. I nodded.

"Somebody should go ahead to alert the owners." James took off without even being asked. "After that, take them to Hogwarts station, put them on the train, and have it leave – let the driver know to drive until you tell him to turn around." Dumbledore nodded, waved his wand, and sent a silver phoenix off out of the window, presumably to the driver of the Hogwarts Express.

"_Now _go and find a way to get rid of those Horcruxes." I nodded and took off out of the hall in a sprint, headed toward Dumbledore's office.

Once I reached the gargoyle, I realized that I hadn't asked Dumbledore for the password. Would it still be cockroach cluster? I thought back – only a few days ago it had been. Had it really only been a few days ago that I had been here last? I realized it had been, and said roughly to the stone gargoyles,

"Cockroach cluster!" It leaped aside and I ran up the stone gargoyles.

It took me a moment – okay, so it took me at least fifteen minutes – to come up with the _perfect _spell to get this to work, and I shouted,

"_Expecto patronum!_" My silver wolf burst out, and I said quickly,

"Hey Harry. I know that we said that we wouldn't contact each other unless it was an emergency, but – well, this is.

"I _need _you to send me Gryffindor's sword. Or a basilisk fang. I don't care which. But we need to destroy the Horcruxes _now _and we have no way to."

I recounted the spell I had quickly created to send something back in time with his patronus, and then sent mine off.

I glanced worriedly at the time as I started pacing around his office. Only five more minutes and the Death Eaters would be attacking Hogwarts. I hoped that Dumbledore had managed to get all of the students to Hogsmeade safely. When I glanced out the window facing that direction, I saw the steam from the engine of the Hogwarts Express twirling up towards the sky in a spiral motion, but it was much too far away to still be in the station. I sighed in relief.

Just as the hour was up and I heard bangs and shouts distantly from somewhere downstairs, a silver stag floated into the window. It carried no message – only the Gryffindor sword. It clattered to the floor nosily as the stag disappeared.

I walked forward quietly and picked up the sword and cast a quick spell I had found on it that told me that it was the _real _Gryffindor sword and had basilisk venom in it. That was all in needed as I conjured a bag, shoved all of the Horcruxes from the corner they were hiding in and quickly ran out of the room, seeing that it was ten minutes after they started to attack.

The nearest wall to me had already caved in – on the other wall that wasn't, all of the windows were smashed, paintings were shattered, and suites of armor were lying in pieces on the ground.

I ran the long way – being as the short way wall has collapsed. I dodged spells flying in the window, and ran past Mad-Eye, who was throwing spells out of the window and yelled at me as I passed,

"Constant vigilance, girl! And Voldemort's in the Great Hall!"

"Thanks!" I shouted back, running down the stone steps –

To find _no _stone steps.

They had been blasted away from below, and I was running so hard before I realized they were gone that I slipped and tipped off of the stairs.

I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming as I threw a Cushioning Charm below me. I landed safely on it in the middle of a battle between two masked Death Eaters and Sirius. I stunned one from behind before running off toward the Great Hall before Sirius could realize who had done it.

Just before I entered, I threw a Disillusionment Charm on myself – I had a plan.

The Great Hall was swarming with masked Death Eaters and Order members. Curses flew _everywhere _and I had an issue fighting my way to the middle, where there was a giant circle where Dumbledore was fighting Voldemort, without getting hit by any.

Finally, after dodging several consecutive Killing Curses, I was standing directly behind Voldemort. He wasn't saying anything – just sending curses at Dumbledore silently.

I Disarmed him from behind, and caught his wand as it flew toward me.

He turned, angrily, toward me, but when he saw that there was nobody there, he looked very confused and, if possible, even more angry.

After a moment, I removed the Disillusionment Charm and said slowly, repeating Voldemort's previous words that night and smiling faintly,

"_Peek – a – boo, _Tom." I dropped open the bag of Horcruxes and they spilled out. Voldemort's eyes trailed from one to one, but didn't move – I still had his wand, which I dropped, as well as mine, beside the Horcruxes and I gripped the sword, which was dangling by my side, harder. "Ready to watch five pieces of your soul _die_ like you deserve?" He laughed humorlessly.

"You can't kill those with that sword," he said coldly. "Don't help! This fight is between Lord Voldemort and Sawyer!" he added when a few nearby Death Eaters tried to come forward to help.

"Really?" I replied, smiling mischievously. "Watch me," I added in a whisper.

I looked down at the Horcruxes: the ring, the diary, the locket, the cup, and the diadem. Which to kill first?

Finally, I set the tip of the sword down on the diary, pulled it in front of me and, with a quick glance up at Voldemort, dug the sword through it.

The cold-blooded, ear-splitting scream Harry had described to me before split my ears, and I flinched slightly but ignored it. Voldemort's eyes flashed to anger, but then confusion took over as he watched the dark red blood – _his_ blood, presumably – flow from the hole.

Finally, once it was done screaming, I kicked it forward and slung the tip of the sword through the handle on the cup, sliding it in front of me like before.

"Ready or not Tom, here – I – go," I said mockingly to Voldemort before I dug the blood-covered sword through the now screaming cup. I kicked it up into a pile with the diary.

One by one, the Horcruxes were killed: the ring, the locket, the diadem. By the time I had killed the ring, the whole hall was watching, but not daring to try to help – Voldemort and I kept telling everybody to stay back.

By the time I had kicked the diadem into the pile of now rubbish, Voldemort's anger had overtook him – as did his wandless magic.

Furious, he must have pushed on his magic level, because I was lifted off of my feet and thrown through the air against a wall. The sword fell loudly to the ground out of my reach and I saw Voldemort's wand fly back into his outstretched hand. My back hit the wall, and I fell hard, feeling a warm, wet, sticky substance running down my neck and back and into a pile on the ground – blood.

Voldemort walked slowly toward me, staring maliciously down at me, before turning his back to me so he could address the room.

"This," he said slowly, pointing to me behind him.

While he had his back to me, I tried to focus all of my magic on knocking him forward; but I had been weakened when I had hit the wall, and if I was weakened _at all_, I couldn't control my wandless magic. So, while he couldn't see me, I inched slowly and carefully toward the sword and, once it was within reach, grasped the handle tightly in my left hand.

"Is what happens when somebody tries to oppose me."

He turned back to me, his wand pointed at me, but he didn't expect what he saw next – a flash of silver, and the sword was protruding from his stomach. Blood oozed out, and I yanked his wand from his hand while he was too shocked to notice and stood shakily to my feet.

"Yes," I replied to him as he staggered backward and fell onto his back, leaning against his hand for support while he pulled the sword out with the other hand. "But _this _is what happens to_ somebody like you_." Then, I used his wand to force my way into his mind and show him the truth – my death in 1977, being sent back in time, how I really had hated his guts while he thought I was his most faithful servant.

When I pulled out, he was staring at me with wide eyes.

"You – You tricked me," he said slowly, before he fell backwards and all light was removed from his scarlet eyes.

All _hell _broke loose then.

Order members rounded up shocked Death Eaters, only a few of which fought back, and Regulus ran toward me. We both knew what was happening – I was slowly being sent back in time. I could feel it – I don't know how, but I could.

He planted a firm kiss on my lips before cupping my cheeks in his hands. I saw Mom and Dad standing off to the side, not wanting to interrupt us.

"Nicole – " he started to say, but I cut him off. I knew I only had seconds left.

"Don't forget the time sand," I managed just before I closed my eyes slowly and felt the expected and long awaited pull behind my navel.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	31. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: This is it. The last chapter. It's a little short, but it's the epilogue, so it's allowed to be. I hope you all enjoy it and have enjoyed my story! There might eventually be a sequel – life _after _this chapter ends – or a prequel – Nicole's life in the other universe. Also, go check out my new story, _I Will Always Love You, _it's a Remus/Sirius story.**

**Thanks Hannahzzz and ixamxeverywhere for the reviews!**

Chapter 30

My feet hit solid ground roughly. I kept my eyes closed as I staggered backward. I heard a voice, but couldn't make out what they were saying or who it belonged to. Something – a hand? – grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling backward.

Traveling nearly 17 and a half years into the future really takes it out of you.

Finally, I managed to open my eyes and take in my surroundings.

But everything was blurry, and all I could make out was a smudged face hovering directly in front of mine.

My wrist was still being held, and whoever the face belonged to pulled it a few steps and then pushed me into a chair that I couldn't see. I closed my eyes again – the blurriness was giving me a headache – but of course that could also have been caused by the amount of blood that I had lost and was still losing or by the giant hole in the back of my head.

"Mom! Dad!"

I could finally make out what was being said and, though I still couldn't make out who the voice belonged to, I figured it was Harry.

"Hurry!"

I heard hurried footsteps, first from a distance and then they got closer and closer until they stopped directly in front of me. I opened my eyes again and this time managed to make out the faces just enough to realize it was James and Lily – Mom and Dad. They looked worried and I saw them exchange knowing glances.

"What do we do?" Dad asked Mom quietly as I squeezed my eyes shut again.

"I don't know," Mom answered frantically. "I don't know any healing charms! Why didn't we prepare for this?"

"Call Mary and Kingsley!" Dad suggested, gripping my hand in his tightly and putting something on the back of my head, presumably to slow down the bleeding.

"Why are you thinking of that at a time like this!" Mom cried, irritated.

"No!" Dad replied. "Mary's a Healer! She can help!"

I heard more footsteps, and then I heard Harry speak again – this time, I could make out his voice as well as I could his worried face,

"What's happened to her? She was perfectly fine, laughing as I told her what Fred and George had done earlier, and then she suddenly almost collapsed and – "

"Harry," Dad said firmly. "Go with your mom."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it." Harry sighed, annoyed, before running off.

Finally, I could make out everything in the room – not only Dad's worried face as he knelt in front of me but also the wooden table behind him, the two doors to the small dining room, one that led to the kitchen and the other to the drawing room. It was the same house that Dad and Mom had lived in back in 1980.

"Nicole," Dad said quietly. Our eyes met. "Dumbledore told us and told us that today was the day – today was the day the Nicole we knew in 1980 would be back, and we knew, we _knew_, but we didn't think that you would arrive in the same condition you left in." Suddenly, Mom and Harry came running back in, as did four other people – two of them were Kingsley and Mary, but I couldn't recognize the other two. They were both mixed with curly brown hair, and I assumed they were Kingsley and Mary's kids. One, the boy, looked only a few years younger than me and the other, the girl, looked younger than Hogwarts age and was clutching Kingsley's hand.

"Daddy, is Nicole going to be alright?" she asked worriedly. "I don't want her to die! She taught me how to play Quidditch and lets me try spells with her wand!"

"She's going to be fine, Amanda," Kingsley asked, but I could tell he was worried as well.

"Harry, take Miles and Amanda upstairs for a bit," Mom said shortly. Harry groaned, but grabbed Amanda's hand as he led Amanda and the boy – Miles – out of the room. I saw Mary out of the corner of my eye come up behind me. I couldn't tell what she was doing, but Mom had said she was a Healer, and therefore I trusted her.

The pain in the back of my head stopped suddenly. Slowly, my vision was back completely as was my hearing, and I had stared wondering if she had completed when Mary hopped back into my vision.

"There," she said. "It wasn't that bad. I've seen worse. It's just scarier when it's a loved one."

"Thanks Mary," Dad said, keeping his eyes locked on mine and his hands tight around mine. "Look, we'd love to chat, but we need some time alone with Nicole."

"Course," Mary said as she led Kingsley to the drawing room, probably to get Amanda and Miles and then to leave to go home.

Once the door had slammed behind them, Mom and Dad pulled up chairs and sat in front of me. Dad kept his hand in mine.

"So," Dad said after a moment. "We were told you would remember everything from this life when you came back. Do you?"

I thought about it, and realized that I remembered some things, some things I didn't. Like that Miles was a second year and Amanda was seven. Remus and Tonks had been married already and Tonks was pregnant. My best friends at school were Johnny Longbottom and Astoria Greengrass. Dean Thomas was also a close friend – I wondered if it was because he reminded me of Kingsley – and – I nearly gagged when I remembered this – I had not only been good friends with but had also _dated _Draco Malfoy for nearly a whole year the previous year before we had decided it was remain friends.

"Ew!" I gasped without answering Dad. "Draco Malfoy? I _dated _Malfoy? And Greengrass is my best friend?" Dad laughed.

"Course, you _would _say that first. And it kind of reminds me of the situation with Severus and Regulus. You just have the hots for Slytherins, don't you?" I was surprised that Dad had called him "Severus" and not "Snape" but I didn't say anything because I saw Mom and Dad exchange worried glances suddenly.

"What?" I asked. When they didn't answer, I asked again, "What?" They still didn't answer, but were both biting their bottom lip worriedly. I got scared. "_What?_"

"Nicki," Mom said softly, taking my free hand in hers and squeezing it. "Honey. Regulus..."

"What about Regulus?" I pushed when she didn't say anything after that. She looked down, and Dad spoke up for her.

"He – he's _dead_."

My stomach dropped, and I know my heart stopped. I felt my eyes starting to tear up, but I stopped them from overflowing. I shook my head fiercely.

"No...no...he can't – "

"He disappeared a week after the final battle. Everyone says that one of the Death Eaters who escaped capture got him – they all claim it was Bellatrix," Dad continued, looking me in the eyes.

The tears that had threatened to pour over now did. They streamed down my cheeks so fast it felt like one long stream of water. I pulled my hands out of Mom and Dad's grasp, set my elbows on my knees, and buried my face in my hands. Mom and Dad were saying something – comforting words, probably – but I didn't hear them. My mind had completely blanked out – I wasn't thinking, I just let the tears flow until it felt like I had no tears left in me to cry – but I kept crying anyway.

"What's wrong with Nicole?" I heard Harry ask worriedly from somewhere. I heard Mom get up and leave to go talk to him. I pulled my face out of my hands, wiped the tears off of my cheeks, and said to Dad,

"I – I just want to be alone." Before he could say anything, I got up and walked quickly to the dining room, where Mom was telling Harry something. When I passed by, Harry grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a silent tight hug, which I returned half-heartedly, before I pulled away and ran upstairs to the room I remembered as my own, tears flowing out of my eyes again.

The door slammed behind me – I locked it – and I threw myself onto the bed, buried my face in my pillow, and ended up crying myself to sleep...

* * *

When I woke up, I could see the setting setting out of my window. It was still really dark in the room, but not dark enough for me to miss the form of somebody sleeping in the chair at my desk in front of the window. I slowly got up and walked closer, and a small gasp followed by a shriek of "Regulus!" emitted from my lips when I realized who it was.

He jumped up and fell backward off of the chair. Unable to stop myself, I started to laugh.

"It's not funny," Regulus muttered. But I couldn't stop laughing long enough to reply, and instead got onto the floor next to him and engulfed him into the tightest and longest hug I had ever had.

"What?" he asked, sounding confused. Maybe he thought I had started to cry, for I was laughing so hard my shoulders shook but no sound emitted. "What's wrong?"

"I – I – I'm...so...st-stupid!" I laughed, gasping for breath as I finally was able to stop laughing long enough to explain. "They told me that you were dead – you disappeared a couple days after the Battle of Hogwarts and everybody thought an escaped Death Eater had gotten you. I'm so _stupid _for not realizing that you just used the time sand!" Regulus smiled slightly and kissed me lightly and briefly. "How did you get in the house?" I asked after a pause.

"That's where I took the potion. Severus told me it was the best idea – it was the place you would be most likely to be in. Unless you had moved, which he said he doubted you guys would. Only Sev knew I was coming, and he said he wouldn't tell anybody in case – in case anybody got any ideas. I didn't want to wake you, but I was so tired I fell asleep on the desk." Suddenly, he looked nervous and I felt his hands start to sweat in mine. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He shook his head and muttered,

"N – Nothing."

"You sure?" I asked, not believing him and narrowing my eyes. He nodded and looked out of the window.

"Wow!" he said suddenly after a moment. "Look at that beautiful sunset!" I had never heard him say such a thing, and when he stood up on his knees to look over the desk, I stood up completely and stepped closer to the desk to see what he was talking about.

Sure, the sunset was pretty – different oranges, pinks, and purples streaked the western sky while the east remained a dark blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky but you could see the sun, moon, and several stars – but it was nothing more extraordinary than any other sunset I had ever seen.

I turned back to Regulus to tell him this, and found him down on one knee with a small black box in his hands...

**A/N: So that's it! The last chapter! As I said before, there might eventually be a sequel – life afterthis chapter ends – or a prequel – Nicole's life in the other universe.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	32. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

**The sequel is up! Just go to my profile to find it! The title is _Reborn_.  
**

**Summary: For the first time in her life, Nicole Potter plans on living a calm, normal life with her family and friends. She should've known that wasn't going to happen. When a mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban occurs and yet another wizarding war looms in the future, Nicole knows she's going to get drug into it again.**

**I can't promise anything about updates for it, but I hope to update once a week, or once every two weeks at least.**

**Just a quick heads up – the name is liable to change later into the story, I just couldn't think of anything at the moment. **


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